


Viktor, the Ice Prince

by DoubleTrouble007



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Viktor as a magical being, Viktor with a K, vicchan's dead. Sorry., yuuri is still an ice skater
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-02-11 07:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12930087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoubleTrouble007/pseuds/DoubleTrouble007
Summary: Yuuri comes home with his head heavy in defeat, dreams of being a top figure skater crushed, and his future a black nothingness that just brings him anxiety to think about.It's easy enough to settle back into his life at the onsen- helping out with the familiar chores, skating whenever he gets a chance, but home also has all the reminders of his failures that make it hard to shake off his depression.It isn't until an unusual Winter storm hits Hatsetsu with nearly a foot of snow, and Yuuri decides to make a snow man while no one's looking, that things start to change.Especially when said snowman comes alive and decides to cling to Yuuri...It certainly helps keep Yuuri's mind (and hands) occupied.-Or, the AU where Yuuri is still pretty much the same, but Viktor is an Ice Prince that wants to discover warmth through this human he found and Yuuri finds he can't say no to this odd, but charming, man.☆*Updates every T̶u̶e̶s̶d̶a̶y̶ sporadically.... sorry- school! ^^'*☆





	1. Whispered doubts and chasing ice

 

It was freezing. 

Yuuri pushed his chin deeper into the folds of his scarf, feeling the icy burn of the air on his cheeks despite the face mask he wore. He sped up his pace, careful not to slip against the slushier parts of the road. 

It was still slightly dark out, Yuuri leaving the house for a run before the sun had risen so he could be back in time to help with breakfast preparations. Perhaps it was more dangerous that way, but Yuuri had run this path thousands of times before.

He had been back home for almost a month now after living abroad for nearly 5 years to finish his degree and get training from one of the top figure skating coaches in America, Celestino. 

Of course, it all seemed to have been for nothing. 

He failed at last year's Grand Prix final, and now he was doing the same work his sister was doing, despite her never bothering to get a degree. It was easy to get back into the swing of things, having grown up in the onsen with daily chores around his school and skating schedule.  

Back then, he dreamed of the day he would prove himself to the figure skating world, to be the best figure skater, to show that all his hard work had paid off. 

Yuuri increased his speed, the clouds in the distance starting to grow pink. A chilly breeze traveled past him and burned any exposed skin. It was nothing like the chill of the rink, and yet somehow the cold air reminded him of it all the same. 

It certainly didn't feel like all the hard work had paid off. 

 

The onsen was quiet when Yuuri returned, early enough to still have time for a nice, hot shower so his body could defrost before helping his father prep food in the kitchen. He walked quickly through the halls, wanting to jump under the stream of hot water as soon as possible, but paused when he passed a pair of sliding doors.  

He let his hand reach out for the groove in the wood but didn't pull it open. Instead he took a deep breath and gave a small bow before walking away. He would light incense for Vicchan later.  

The day went the same as all the other days seemed to since he got back, with Yuuri helping around the house and then hiding in his room when he figured he could take a break. He laid under his covers, enjoying the warmth of his blanket cocoon while playing a game on his phone.  

As he tapped away at the colorful screen, Yuuri wondered what he was doing. Mari had asked him what he was planning to do a month ago, but he still hadn't answered. Was he just going to stay here and help run the onsen for the rest of his life? Maybe he could coach kids at the ice rink... Although Minako had told him that there weren't many kids interested in taking up ballet, so the same was probably true for ice skating.  

His character in the game died, sending Yuuri back to the home screen with the option for a new game. Setting his phone down, Yuuri turned towards his window, distantly watching the snow fall outside. It was already April, but the last few days felt like Winter wanted to stay just a bit longer.  

Curling around himself, the phone forgotten in the covers, Yuuri missed the familiar weight of his small poodle. He knew it was a silly thought, that it had been so long since the last time he had even seen his dog, but somehow just being in his childhood bed made his body remember. 

It hurt. And it was all for nothing. 

Yuuri bit his lip, willing the burn in his eyes to go away with several furious blinks. Of course, it didn't matter- his mind just kept going around and around on his failures, the falls at his competitions feeling as fresh as the day he got them but nowhere near as painful as the call he received last year, right before he had to skate, when _Vicchan_ -. 

Movement caught Yuuri's eye, something spreading across the window and shaking him away from his self-destructive thoughts. Blinking hard to clear his vision, Yuuri sat up, watching as ice formed across the panes of glass.  

The sight of it was extraordinary- ice, at this time of day? And how fast it was moving… the vines of ice trailing over the window as if they were tiny ice skaters gliding across the other side of his window, their blades leaving a trail of ice behind with every twist and curve of their bodies. It was memorizing, and Yuuri found himself unable to look away as he watched the ice work its way up his window.  

It wasn't a particularly thick coating of ice, just enough to blur anything beyond the window with a silver tint, but Yuuri was still amazed by it. The painful chill it might mean for his outside chores was the last thing on his mind, with only childlike cheer giving him a lopsided grin as he continued to watch the ice dance outside his window.  

"Beautiful..." Yuuri whispered, daring to place a finger against one of the bottom panes already covered by the ice. It was cold to the touch, but his heat easily seeped through the glass and began melting the ice. Surprised, Yuuri moved his finger down, watching his finger melt a path through the ice.  

It took a moment but to Yuuri's amazement the ice began to grow back over his trail, closing it from his first mark, edging to where his finger currently rested. Yuuri swiped his finger away before the ice could reach it, making his own route through the ice, watching intently as it began to close up again.  

He had never seen ice act this way, or this quickly before. Glancing up, he noticed the ice had stopped growing half way up his window, leaving several vines of ice reaching out from the block that already covered the bottom half. Yuuri slid his finger across it again, almost laughing as the ice re-covered the surface he had melted, the rough formations furiously rebuilding as if annoyed that he had ruined its hard work. But ice wasn't a living thing, it didn't have emotions. It couldn't be annoyed. 

So Yuuri moved his finger again, upwards, towards the edge of the ice, where it had tapered off for whatever reason. Perhaps only the bottom half of his window was cold enough for ice? Strange, but then this ice seemed anything but normal.  

The pathway his finger created was closed up by the ice, but instead of stopping at the bottom half, the ice reached out, following the trail Yuuri left behind despite there being no ice on that part of the window.  

Yuuri gasped. He kept his finger to the window, but quickly moved it away from the ice, not sure what was going on, his mind running out of reasonable explanations for the ice's odd behavior. 

The silver ice continued to follow him, almost lazy in its movements, and curving differently a few times instead of completely following Yuuri's finger, but it didn't seem to be avoiding Yuuri's finger, simply creating its own path as it worked its way towards Yuuri. 

Blinking, Yuuri looped his finger up higher on the window, watching as the now single vine of ice stretched after it, completely independent of the ice below, flowing over the glass with a clear intention of ending where ever Yuuri's finger was.  

"What..." Yuuri moved his finger again, this time without stopping, unable to look away as the ice glided and practically danced across the glass, the frozen pieces eagerly rushing after him when he sped up and then happily creating lazy loops when Yuuri slowed down his pace. He brought his finger back through a part of the icy trail the vine had already created on the top half, and the ice followed right through it as well.  

This was unnatural. Yuuri could barely believe it, but he couldn't deny it when it was happening right in front of him. Half of him wanted to grab his phone and record a video of the playful ice, but the other half wanted to selfishly keep this magical moment to himself.  

The ice skirted away from his finger when the tip got a bit too close, and then curled back near his finger as if in a challenge. Yuuri laughed in disbelief as he began to chase the ice, his finger lifting up and around the tip of the ice, which easily swooped out of the way and created loops over itself, slowing down at times as if to wait for Yuuri to follow its lead. 

Yuuri's breath fanned out on the window, the glass fogging up from his natural heat and melting any ice around it. When he realized what he was doing, Yuuri began to lean back, not wanting to accidentally melt any more of the ice, but then he caught a flash of crystal blue eyes where his own should be reflected on the glass' surface. 

They were piercing, bright and playful and as real as the ice chasing after his finger. 

Yelping, Yuuri flung himself back, falling off his bed in a tangled heap with the blankets. Yuuri's heart was pounding hard, still able to see the blue eyes when he closed his own, the vibrant color having imprinted itself on his retinas.  

"You okay?" Yuuri whipped his head to see Mari staring at him from his door, hand on a hip and not looking impressed.

"U-uh, well," Yuuri wanted to say yes, despite knowing his sister had asked it rhetorically, but had to peek over his bed first, needing to see if those blue eyes were still there.  

They weren't.  

"Yuuri, c'mon, if you're here you got to help, you know. I want a smoke break- can you do the laundry? We're almost out of hand towels," Mari said, already pushing away from Yuuri's door.

“Thanks!" 

Yuuri spun towards his sister, just catching a glimpse of her back as she ran down the hall. 

_"I didn't say yes!"_

 

Yuuri was folding the now clean towels, those blue eyes on his mind. The ice had already started melting as soon as he finally untangled himself from his bed sheets, and by the time he went to go after his sister, there was no trace of ice left. 

It just got weirder and weirder, the oddity of it all making him wish he had at least taken a picture of the ice so that he could prove to himself that at least _something_ had happened.  

All his years, all the thousands of hours spend on the ice, living in places with frigid temperatures that easily stayed below zero and yet he had never seen ice act like that before. It had to be some sort of phenomenon. Perhaps the temperature of his window and his finger had somehow made the ice act that way? But it had seemed so... alive, and playful, as if it had a mind of its own. And those eyes... 

Yuuri shook his head, wondering if he was going crazy. Sure, he had his bouts of anxiety and depression, but never any hallucinations, as far as he knew. Perhaps it was something new? 

"Are you still doing towels?" It was Mari, back from her smoke break, frowning at Yuuri. "It's almost dinner time. You going to help in the kitchen?" Ah yes, home sweet home. 

Sighing, Yuuri decided he could worry about his current mental state later. For now, there was work to be done. 

 

After serving the last customer, Yuuri felt a familiar itch crawling up legs, and excused himself after making sure his parents got a handle on things. Mari had her smoke breaks, but Yuuri needed something a bit more. No one spends as much time skating as he had without finding ways to mediate through it. 

It was calming, like a breath of fresh air in his mind that was always helpfully supplying him with painful memories or feelings of worthlessness or any number of unhelpful thoughts. He was glad he hadn't succumbed to any major injury as many other athletes had. The idea of being unable to skate was a heart breaking one. 

Of course, his mind helpfully added, if he had been injured then at least he would have a reason to have failed. Instead it was just his own weak will, his own inability to do what he wanted to.  

Yuuri threw himself into figures to quiet that particular thought. 

The sound of his skates cutting into the ice was a well known and familiar one, helping Yuuri relax and let his mind finally quiet down as he simply moved.  

It was getting late, but that didn’t matter. He had the keys to lock up Ice Castle, which he got the first time he came back to the rink to see Yuuko. She was happy to see him, of course, as was Nishigori and their triplets. Yuuri was happy to them all as well, his friends and their family much more endearing face to face instead of through the phone or video calls he had relied on for the last several years.  

But there was something else about being so close to the people who had trained beside him while they were younger, who had cheered him on as he got an official coach and started rising in the ranks of Japan’s junior figure skating. Then the national junior figure skating, eventually becoming Japan’s hope in men’s figure skating.

And now, here he was, alone on the rink with no coach or any plans to make all the sacrifices and hard work from everyone worth it.  

His figures were perfect, deep grooves forming smooth curves on the ice from the numerous times Yuuri traced his steps. The ice stayed where it was, conforming to Yuuri’s skates as it always had. It was as hard and cold as usual, too. 

It was simultaneously reassuring and disappointing, the earlier magic from the silvery ice a fun mystery, but now it just felt like a simple dream… and perhaps it was. He could have very easily just fallen asleep in his blankets, waking up when he fell from his bed, his mind creating those memories, and the sparkling, blue eyes. 

Taking a deep breath of painfully cold air, Yuuri decided he had enough skating tonight.  

The snow hadn’t stopped during the day, and it was still going strong as Yuuri locked up the ice castle. He was leaving the rink earlier than usual, getting a rare look over Hatsetsu with many families still awake, lights shining through windows in the dark of the houses below.  

The snow was already a good half foot deep, a real snowstorm for the town, especially given the time of year. It was almost like it was teasing him, the winter sport he had given his life to, and failed, coming back in vengeance with a storm that would have him shoveling until the end of May if it kept up. 

Snorting, Yuuri kicked some of the white snow, eyebrows raising when he noticed how heavy it was. 

Looking around to make sure he was alone, Yuuri set his bag by the Ice Castle’s doors, out of reach from the snow as it continued to drift in large, white flakes from the blackness above.  

Winter meant training, hours and hours dedicated to working out programs, staying in shape, and perfecting every movement down to the smallest flick of his wrist. At least, that’s what Winter meant when Yuuri was training.  

Now, he was floating. Perhaps Winter had stayed longer so that he could experience it for the first time in years without training.  

Laughing at that thought, Yuuri smiled at the bite of cold as he balled up a bit of snow in his hands. It packed together well, holding stiff and heavy in his palms without falling apart as the snow Hatsetsu usually did. It truly was extraordinary weather this year. 

“Shouldn’t let it go to waste,” Yuuri mumbled to himself, wishing he had brought more than just his fingerless gloves as he got to work, throwing the small ball of snow onto the inches already piling high.  

His body was still slightly sore from his time in the rink, but not as exhausted as he usually was. He quickly warmed up as he rolled the snow ball through the snow that had already piled up through the day, easily growing it into a two foot tall ball of snow before grabbing another fist of snow and starting over.  

By the time Yuuri finished smoothing the ice between the body and head, the snowman was nearly as tall as him, with three large balls of snow easily sticking together, more reminiscent of American snowmen than the typical two piece Japanese snowmen he grew up with. 

Despite his hands feeling raw and frozen white his pants were literally starting to freeze from the snow that had melted on them, Yuuri took a few more moments to find a few rocks, using them to create something that resembled a face. It was dark, and the lights from the rink were already out, so all Yuuri had to see by was a faint glow from the town below. Of course, enough time had passed that many of the houses were already dark, leaving just a few street lights nearby to help Yuuri see. 

Still, as he folded his hands under his armpits and looked over his creation, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of giddiness at the sight.  

The smile was crooked, rock eyes different sizes, and the nose nothing more than a slab of snow Yuuri stuck on, but it was the first actual snowman he had made in… he couldn’t remember the last time he made a snowman. He and Phichit had a snowball fight or two in Detroit, and he had even made a few small snow bunnies, but all his time and energy were spent focusing on training, studying, working to make sure none of it was wasted. 

Looking over at the snowman before him, a thought drifted through his head that perhaps he had been wasting time doing all those things instead of enjoying life more, given that he had still failed in the end.  

He shook his head, clearing away the thought. 

No, he would’ve regretted not working as hard as he did, although he wished he could’ve worked harder. Perhaps it just wasn’t his fate, perhaps it just wasn’t supposed to work out how he wanted it too.  

It still hurt, but Yuuri took a deep breath as he stared at his snowman, wondering for the first time since he came back from America if perhaps, just maybe, things would be okay. 

They weren’t, not now, but maybe without all the training and studying, he could actually focus on doing other things in life that he had neglected during the last several years, like making a snow man.  

Rolling his eyes at himself, Yuuri snorted and patted the snowman’s shoulder, beaming at the somewhat lumpy collection of snow. 

Yuuri was cold, wet, and probably a sneeze away from catching a cold, but seeing his snowman had sparked something inside of him- something he had forgotten.  

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Yuuri told the snowman, who easily listened without judgement, rocky eyes wordlessly watching him.  

“Everything in my life has been about training, skating, studying… I think maybe it’s time to try something else.” His smile dipped slightly, hating the idea of giving up despite knowing it wasn’t quite in his control. 

“I’m tired of being depressed, I really am. After failing nationals last year, and watching all the competitions go by this year while I was stuck finishing school… I think I need to take some time.” Yuuri felt almost like this was a break up, although his own personal experience with such a thing was mostly tired apologies over text for another extra practice that eventually led to the other person simply moving on.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, but... I hope I’ll have fun,” Yuuri finished, blinking hard as he smiled back at the snowman. It was silly, to anyone watching, for Yuuri to tell a lump of snow things he hadn’t even revealed to his best friend- although honestly he had been avoiding his best friend, who was still an active figure skater, and being reminded of what he had left behind.

Still, it helped. Saying the things he had been bottling up inside for the last month- no, the last year- it was nice, refreshing, and Yuri’s shoulders felt just a bit lighter for it. 

A few seconds passed by as Yuuri caught his breath, standing in front of the snowman, hand still on its shoulder as snow continued to drift down on them. The cold was soaking into his clothes, both melted snow and sweat from skating and building the snowman working against him now, and Yuuri knew he had to go back home.  

Looking around again to make sure he was definitely alone, Yuuri closed his eyes and pressed a quick kiss to the snowman’s cheek. It was impulsive, a small thank you to an inanimate object he built out of frozen water, for listening. Somehow, though, it felt like the right thing to do, and Yuuri headed back to the Ice Castle’s doors for his bag with cold lips and cheeks rosier than they had been just a moment before.  

God, he really hopes no one saw that. Mari would never let him forget it if word got out. Then again, if anyone saw him kiss the snowman, they also might’ve heard his confession that he really had no idea what he was doing with his life. 

Granted, everyone in Hatsetsu probably already knew that, anyways. 

  
 

The walk back to the onset was a quiet, but cold, one. His feet were numb from the snow and slush soaking them in the freezing night air. By the time Yuuri got back, he didn’t even bother to grab his own clothes, instead heading straight to the baths for a soak while discarding all his wet clothes in a basket.  

He nearly fell asleep waiting for his body to regain feeling in the hot water, but still just managed to drag himself out and dress himself in one of the onsen’s robes. There was no one else in the hall as he went to his room, his wet clothes already hanging up to dry in the laundry room. He would deal with them tomorrow.  

Yuuri didn’t bother to turn on his lights as he trudged into his room, his eyes already closed as he navigated through the familiar layout of his childhood room, glasses discarded on the nightstand as he threw himself in bed.  

He pulled the blankets around his body, mind pleasantly numb from how tired he was, allowing him to quickly settle into a deep sleep. 

He hadn’t even noticed the man with blue eyes curiosity staring at him through the other side of his window. 

At least, not until he woke up the next morning, intent on going to the bathroom, but instead turning towards the window in his half asleep state when he heard a tapping. 

The man was smiling, a wide, bright one with his top lip dipping just enough to make it look like a heart.

And, he was naked. Very, very naked. 

Yuuri almost lost a reason to go to the toilet. 

\---

a/n

I did art for this at 4 in the morning. Enjoy.

I sleep now.

 


	2. Viktor is Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a naked blue guy, a confused Japanese skater, and Makkachin!

Yuuri blinked once, twice, but the very naked foreign man was still crouching outside his window, smiling and waving at Yuuri. 

Slapping himself, Yuri’s brain was in a buzz of thoughts, none of which were particularly helpful. 

The man frowned as if worried about Yuri’s odd behavior, which Yuuri found incredibility ironic, before making a motion for Yuuri to raise the window. 

And with his mind in such a panic, Yuuri did. 

“Wow, what a cute room!” The man easily walked onto Yuri’s bed and looked around his room, taking in the posters from Yuri’s childhood figure skating heroes. 

“U-uh, thanks,” Yuuri replied, unsure where to look at the man despite growing up in an onsen and surrounded by nudity all the time.

“What’s your name?” The man asked, turning towards Yuuri with that bright smile still on his face. His skin was pale, almost unnaturally so, with a tint of blue that Yuuri would’ve sworn was the beginnings of frost bite if the man didn't seem so healthy and chipper. 

He was also unnaturally beautiful, with long, silver hair that spanned down his back and blue eyes that Yuuri was sure he had seen before.

“Yuuri…”

“Yuuu-ri, huh, I know someone else named Yuri to, but you guys are nothing alike.” 

“Oh, is that so?” Yuuri had no idea what the social conventions were in situations like this, and had only just realized he was speaking English. Perhaps it was a good thing he had spent so long in America, for now he could easily talk to this beautiful stranger that had literally just walked into his room from the roof. 

…How did he even get on the roof?

"I'm Viktor," the man chirped, holding out a hand. Yuuri took it, gasping at the icy flesh of the other man. His skin was so cold it burned, as if icicles were wrapped around his hand.

Yuuri pulled his hand out of Viktor's grasp, cradling it against his chest as the cold that lingered gave way to numbness.

Viktor gave him a questioning stare, almost looking hurt at Yuuri's adverse reaction to his touch.

"You... You're very cold," Yuuri said, wondering how the man was even alive. Of course, he had just been sitting outside, naked, and his skin was almost blue.

Still, he seemed more alive than Yuuri felt most mornings.

"Of course!" Viktor said, brightening up again. "I'm the Prince of Ice, so it would be weird if I wasn't!"

Yuuri blinked once, twice, his mind going over the words several times as he made sure his English hadn't failed him. In fact, Viktor had a slightly Russian accent to his English if Yuuri thought about it...

Perhaps it was a Russian thing? It was cold in Russia, so maybe they were used to being so cold their skin turned blue. And... perhaps it was a Russian thing to be naked on a roof?

Yuuri decided he was going to look up Russia culture and customs later.

For now, he had to deal with this... 'Prince'.

"Right, of course," Yuuri said, slowly heading back towards his dresser. "Would you like to borrow some clothes? Mine might be a bit small but-."

"You would give me your clothes?!" Viktor all but yelled, his unfairly handsome face lighting up with another heart shaped smile directed right at Yuuri. Clearing his throat, Yuuri looked away, ignoring the blush that rose to his cheeks.

"At least for now," Yuuri replied, almost mumbling as a small part of him was sure that if Viktor never wanted to return his clothes, he would happily let him keep them.

"You're so nice, Yuu-ri! And such a good skater, too!" Yuuri paused, a curl of dread settling in his stomach.

"You... know I'm a skater?"

"Yes! I saw you skating last night- very impressive! Not many people can skate so consistently... You must skate a lot."

Yuuri laughed, his shoulders falling as he kept back a sigh of relief. "Yeah, you could say that." He stopped with his hands on one of the bigger shirts he got after gaining a bit of weight.

"Wait, you saw me skate last night?" He asked, wondering how. The doors had been locked with him inside.

"Yeah! I was just passing by and got distracted when I saw you through the windows," Vitkor explained. Yuuri found a pair of sweatpants and handed the clothes to Viktor, careful to keep his eyes averted. He had seen enough to know the other man was at least taller than him, but he was polite enough to know that was enough to know. Plus, he didn't want to think about the flash of abs he had seen before, or the trail of light hair dusting them as they got thicker towards the man’s-.

"Are you... new here?" Yuuri asked, already knowing the answer. Hasetsu was a small town, and while everyone might not know everyone, they _certainly_ would know about a silver haired foreigner who liked to walk around rooftops naked.

"Yeah! I just came yesterday," Viktor replied as he got out of Yuuri's bed and started tugging on the clothes. Yuuri turned around to give him privacy, only lightly squeaking as he did so.

"I was actually supposed to leave last night, but after watching you skate, I didn't want to!"

Yuuri felt himself flush hard, from the tips of his ears to the top of his chest. People have complimented his skating, sure, but not like this. Especially not handsome, naked Russians with a heart shaped smile.

"Uhh, is that right?" Yuuri replied, wondering if Viktor was using him as an excuse to get out of work. "I hope it's not interfering with your work..."

"Not at all! Although honestly, I guess I'm not supposed to be here now... You could call it a vacation of sorts," Viktor's voice quieted down, the bright cheer from earlier falling flat. Surprised by the sudden change, Yuuri tempted fate by turning around, only to see a fully clothed Viktor looking out the window, where Hasetsu was covered in a blanket of white.

“Oh, I mean, it might be a small town, but we're known to be a good place for a nice, quiet vacation. If you like onsens, my parents run, well… The one you're in now..." Yuuri said, quietly trailing off, half of him wondering if it was a wise idea to invite this odd foreigner to the onsen and the other half wanting to help cheer him up.

"Onsen?" Viktor asked, his eyes bright with curiosity as he looked away from the snow outside and back at Yuuri. “What’s that?"

Before Yuuri could answer, however, the door opened.

"Yuuri, I swear to God- the fuck?" It was Mari, but Yuuri wanted to second that. Finding a naked foreigner outside his window was one thing, but actually letting the man in and giving him (not lending, from the looks of it) his own clothes.... Yuuri wasn't sure what, or even if, he was thinking.

"Who is this?" Both Mari and Viktor ask, at the same time, though one in shocked Japanese and the other in bright English.

Yuuri took a deep breath, wondering what Gods he had angered to be dealing with this right now.

"You know what? I don't want to know. Just... be sure to use condoms, okay? Also, you need to clear the path again- we got another 5 inches last night." Mari was obviously not in the mood for anything out of the ordinary today, choosing to ignore Viktor like Yuuri probably should've done earlier. Viktor didn't seem to mind, smiling with just a hint of confusion over his face from the stream of Japanese from Mari.

"Uh, it's not-, he's just-." Yuuri wanted to explain, he really did, but looking between the unamused look on his sister's face and Viktor, he found himself unable to. It was morning, he hadn't had caffeine, and he could clear up the misunderstanding later. It didn't seem like Viktor understood Japanese, so it was no big deal.

"I'll be out there in a moment," Yuuri said, wondering how he was going to explain this later.

Mari took another hard look at Viktor, Yuuri blushing as her eyes obviously checked Viktor's body up and down. Before he could tell her to stop, that Viktor was a potential guest at the onsen, she pointed a finger at him. "Five minutes, and no making out!"

The door closed, and Yuuri was stuck with a face redder than a tomato. It was like high school all over again, when he had brought his first date over and Mari hadn't hesitated to tell them to be quiet, speaking in such a way that left little room for what exactly she meant by that. The relationship hadn't lasted due to Yuuri's busy schedule, but after that he never brought another date home again.

At least this time only he knew what she had said.  

"Who was that? Why are you blushing?" Viktor asked, moving in close towards Yuuri, who instinctively took a step back from the other man. It was the first time he really looked at his body, at how Viktor was obviously wearing Yuuri's clothes from the way they were just slightly too small, the shirt tight across his chest and threatening to expose his bellybutton if he lifted his arms, while the sweatpants stopped several inches from his ankles. Viktor didn't seem to notice or care. 

"Um, my sister, and uh, I'm just... hot," Yuuri said, lamely. He knew foreigners could be a bit invasive with their questions from his time in America, but Viktor seemed to be on another level. Perhaps another Russian thing? 

"Oooh, would you like me to hug you? I can help cool you down!" Viktor's arms were already opening and ready to hold Yuuri, but Yuuri ducked away before the blue tinted arms could wrap around him.

“T-that’s alright, thanks,” Yuuri said, somehow blushing even harder, “Um, would you like to see some of the onsen? I have to go shovel snow but… You can have breakfast if you’d like?” Yuuri knew he should really not be offering food to the man who had been outside his window naked, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to throw the man back out in the cold, despite Viktor clearly not minding it.

And, as he got another heart shaped smile from Viktor, Yuuri knew it would be very, very difficult to say no to the man.

 

Yuuri was bundled up in his thickest winter coat, barely any skin showing, yet still feeling the chilly air and hopping side to side in order to warm up faster. 

Viktor on the other hand, who had insisted he would help Yuuri instead of staying inside and eating a nice, warm meal, was only wearing the same clothes Yuuri had given him earlier with a sweater his mother practically forced on the Russian. 

She had looked horrified when she saw his skin, but Viktor just smiled and told Yuuri he was supposed to be cold. It was a close call, but Yuuri somehow managed to convince his mother not to drive Viktor to the nearest hospital. 

Viktor did have to borrow some shoes, his feet too large for any of Yuuri’s but luckily there was a pair left behind by a customer that fit. Yuuri wasn’t sure why Viktor wanted to help him, but apparently Mari had talked to his parents before they came downstairs and the misunderstanding had already passed to them. Viktor’s request to be with Yuuri while he shoveled snow was met with sly smiles along with some looks that Yuuri knew would bring questions he couldn’t answer later.

But for now, he decided to let Viktor follow him, not really sure what else to do about the strange, if almost naively innocent, man.

“Ah, I love the sight of fresh snow. It’s one of the most beautiful things in the world, I think,” Viktor said, sighing as he looked over the snow covered pathway in front of the onsen, the smooth, white blanket glittering in the morning sun.

Yuuri sighed, but for an entirely different reason. It was a lot of snow, and he could already feel the ache in his arms. 

“You haven’t shoved much snow, have you?” Yuuri asked, but instead of getting an answer he found Viktor running through it, laughing as his feet sunk into the mounds of whiteness. 

Lips in a tight smile, Yuuri shivered as he imagined just how cold Viktor should be, the snow already clinging to his clothes and easily resting around the exposed skin of his ankle while no doubt getting to his feet, which were sock-less and in shoes that were honestly half a size too big.

Viktor just kept smiling, throwing himself into the snow and sinking into it while giggling like a child as if he didn’t even feel the chill.

Laughing, Yuuri got to work, quickly realizing that when Viktor said he ‘wanted to help’ he meant he ‘wanted to play in the snow’, which was fine by Yuuri. He still didn’t know the man, and the idea of a guest at the onsen helping with his chores just felt wrong.

Plus, he was secretly enjoying watching Viktor play around in the snow, taking a glance every once in a while to watch the beautiful man run around in snow as if he belonged there, silver hair perfectly complementing the pure white he was enveloped by. It was an enchanting sight, and Yuuri found himself smiling easily as he shoveled a path for the onsen and guests that weren’t so happy to wander through the snow.

 

Viktor had been quiet for a little while, and Yuri’s mind lost track of time as he became more focused on the task at hand, but when he heard Viktor call for him, Yuuri immediately looked up. The sight that greeted him took his breath away.

A poodle. Standard, if the size was any indication, and lovingly carved out of the snow as if sculpted from marble by a professional. 

Taking in a shaky breath, Yuuri almost didn’t notice when he dropped the shovel, his hands losing their grip as he looked over the snow sculpture. 

“Yuuri, Yuuri are you okay?” Viktor’s smile was replaced by a worried frown as he hopped through the snow over to Yuuri, his cold, blue hands anxiously hovering around Yuri’s face as Viktor looked him over.

“I’m fine,” Yuuri said, clearing his throat as he blinked away any extra water in his eyes before giving Viktor a small smile. 

“Your sculpture… it just reminds me of my own dog…” Yuuri trailed off, but from the way Viktor’s eyebrows raised and his mouth formed an ‘o’, Yuuri figured he understood.

“You…. You should meet Makkachin, then! She’s a really good dog.”

Yuuri bent down to pick up the shovel, setting himself back to work as he smiled at Viktor’s enthusiasm. “Is Makkachin your dog? What kind of dog?”

“Poodle! See?” Yuuri perked up at the sound of a dog barking, looking up just in time to see a blur of brown before it fell on him, knocking him over, back on the snow.

“Makka! No, bad girl!” Viktor’s voice came closer as Yuuri got a better look at his assailant, who was eagerly licking his face, making Yuuri laugh when he realized it was just a dog. 

Viktor pulled the dog back by it’s collar, telling them off.

“Wait, is that your dog?” Yuuri asked, blinking as he adjusted his glasses and got a better look at the dog. The glasses had been nearly thrown off after the dog jumped on him, making it just shapeless blur, but now that he got a better look… It was exactly like Viktor’s sculpture. 

“Yeah!” Viktor grinned as he pet Makkachin’s head. 

Blinking, Yuuri looked over to where the snow sculpture Viktor had just made was. It wasn’t there anymore. 

Yuuri swallowed hard, telling himself that Makkachin must’ve accidentally destroyed the sculpture, ignoring the fact that there wasn’t a pile of snow anywhere near the spot, just a trail of paw prints mixed with Viktor’s own foot prints.

“She’s… very cute,” Yuuri found himself saying, turning his focus back on Makkachin, who was vying for his attention as soon as Viktor let her go. Thankfully, she didn’t jump on him this time.

“Isnt’ she?? I’ve had her ever since she was a puppy… I can’t imagine leaving her for too long, so it’s probably for the best she came here.”

The poodle’s curls were soft and warm under Yuri’s fingers as he wondered what exactly Viktor meant by that.

“Viktor…” Yuuri looked up, mentally preparing himself to ask the other man some hard questions, to get to the bottom of all the inconsistencies and things that were probably more than just a cultural difference. 

“Yes?” Viktor asked, smiling brightly even as he tilted his head in question, silver hair following his movement. 

“Uh, um, how…. Old are you?” Ah yes, the hard questions. Yuuri mentally berated himself for his cowardice while simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief.

“26! Wait, no, I guess I’m 27 now,” Viktor said, looking up to the clear blue sky above them. There was supposed to be snow later, but for now it was blissfully clear.

“Er- really?” Yuuri stood up, trying to get a better look at Viktor’s face. He had thought the other man was around his age, but at closer look he could see it- the few years that separated them. His long hair gave him a more youthful appearance, and Yuuri would’ve believed him if Viktor had told him he was younger than Yuuri.

“Yep! My birthday is December 25th.”

“Christmas Day?” A flash of Viktor sitting across from him, a cake in between them, crossed his mind. Yuuri blushed and quickly waved that thought away. He had only met the man less than two hours ago!

Viktor put a finger to his lips, as if thinking about it. “I suppose so. Never really thought about it, I’m usually too busy to do much more than work around that time.”

“Work? On Christmas?”

“Yeah, although I’m taking a break this year, so maybe you can show me how to celebrate it, Yuuri.” Viktor flashed that beautiful smile at Yuuri again, and he had to ignore the way his heart sped up at the sound of his name from Viktor. 

Yuuri wasn’t used to dealing with such beautiful, if strange, people. His breath caught as he realized what Viktor had asked.

“Wait, how long are you staying here?” 

Viktor’s smile faltered, but he quickly regained it. “Until I’m not needed anymore, I suppose.”

Yuuri wanted to ask what that meant, he really did, but instead he said, “Oh, of course. I…I need to finish this up,” and went back to shoveling, Viktor’s falling smile and words keeping his mind occupied.

Viktor remained out in the tuffs of snow, running around with Makkachin until they both collapsed in the snow, seemingly content to just lay in the freezing banks of whiteness. 

Yuuri couldn’t summon the courage to ask if he was alright, instead settling for checking in on him every 10 minutes to make sure the man was still breathing. 

His skin was tinged with blue, but it had been that way since Yuuri caught him outside his bedroom door just a few hours ago and it hadn’t seemed to affect the man’s energy or ability to move so Yuuri didn’t worry about it. 

If anything, Viktor was looked as if he was having a lovely nap on the snow, using it as if it were a soft mattress while holding onto Makkachin.

And besides, Viktor was older than him, and had been naked for however long on the onsen’s roof. He was an adult that could make his own decisions.

Yuuri glanced over at the tuff of silver hair in the snow as it laid on what was surely freezing snow, making Yuuri shiver as he imagined how cold it was. 

Yes, he could make his own decisions, no matter how bad they seemed to be.

 

“Wow, this looks amazing!” Viktor exclaimed, his eyes practically sparkling as he took in the sight of the Katsudon before him. Yuuri was only slightly jealous, his own bowl of steamed veggies over rice not nearly as appetizing, but worth it for his current diet. Even if he didn’t end up competing again, he certainly didn’t want to keep on the extra weight he had gained through his last few months at school.

His mom giggled at Viktor’s exclamation, the enthusiasm getting across to her more than the words as she skipped away. 

Yuuri’s lips drew a thin line, wondering how his family had so quickly adopted to the odd man. Of course, he couldn’t say much, given that he had let the man inside in the first place.

“It’s my favorite dish,” Yuuri said, taking a bite of his own food as he watched Viktor try to work out the chopsticks, glancing between Yuri’s hands and his own.

“Ah, here, you hold them like this,” Yuuri said, displaying his own hands so Viktor could see them better, but the other man was still holding them too loosely and too high, the sticks crossing each other, hanging uselessly from his hand.

Yuuri set his own chopsticks down, taking Viktor’s hand in his own. “No, more like… this…” The other man’s hand was freezing cold, but being so close and touching him as if they were familiar made Yuri’s face heat up as he let go, quickly picking up his chopsticks again.

“Er, see, you want to keep your fingers around here, and hold onto it tight enough to make sure they don’t slip,” Yuuri instructed, keeping his eyes on Viktor’s hands, unable to look any higher.

“Like this?” Viktor asked, adjusting his hand with a bit of help of his free hand, finding the right spot and holding them right, if slightly awkwardly.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Yuuri said, nodding and looking up before he could stop himself.

Viktor was beaming- it almost as if he was glowing with such bright smile. Yuuri found his cheeks red as he looked back into the food. The man was too beautiful for his own good.

“Thanks, Yuuri!” Yuuri simply nodded before resuming eating, his eyes anywhere but on Viktor. 

“Wow! Vkunso!” 

Yuuri decidedly did not look up as Viktor started to moan.

“Yuuri, are you guys going on a date later? I need to know if you’re available this afternoon to help at the onsen,” Hiroko asked, a tray of dirty dishes in her hands as she passed Yuuri and Viktor’s table.

“M-mom, it’s not like that!” Yuuri said, blushing bright red and knowing he had to put a stop to this ridiculous idea. It had gone on for too long already, not to mention that the idea of his parents thinking he had brought a random foreigner home to spend the night… 

“What did she ask?” Viktor asked, blinking in curiosity as he stared at Yuuri’s face. 

His mouth opening and closing, Yuuri knew he couldn’t just translate what his mom said- it was too embarrassing! He only met Viktor this morning, although if he told his parents how they would probably freak out but Viktor wasn’t that bad… Just a bit odd and _oh no_ they were both waiting for him to answer….

“U-uh, yeah…” Yuuri told his mom, who gave him and Viktor a pleased smile before heading off to the kitchen.

Yuuri turned to Viktor, who was still waiting for his answer. “We… um, do you want to go skating later?” Yuuri asked, hoping Viktor would say yes. Not specifically because he wanted to spend more time with Viktor, who probably had other things he wanted to do with his vacation, but because it meant he wasn’t necessarily lying to his mom that he was going out with Viktor but he would at least be able to get some practice time in.

“Ice skating?” Viktor asked, his eyes growing wide with excitement. Yuuri found himself easily returning the grin, happy to see someone else so excited about the sport he’s spent so much of his life in. 

“I would love to!” 

 

The trip to ice castle was quiet, or at least, without much conversation and more with Viktor exclaiming “Beautiful!” or “What’s that?!” as they ran along the roads to it. 

Makkachin stayed at the Inn, as Yuuri wasn’t sure if Yuuko and Takeshi would allow an animal at the rink and when he asked Viktor where he was staying, the man simply looked at Yuuri in confusion. So, with plenty of apologies, Yuuri asked his parents if they could keep the dog at the Inn.

His mother seemed happy for the request, more so than Yuuri thought she would, eagerly warming up to the large poodle. The image brought a sad smile to Yuuri, as he realized his mom had probably gotten close to Vicchan, especially during the five years he was away.

He wasn’t the only one missing Vicchan. 

At that thought, Yuuri burst out in laughter, which forced him to stop the easy jog he and Viktor had going. Viktor looked over at Yuuri, tilting his head in confusion at the sudden outburst. When Yuuri glanced up and caught his look, he doubled over and laughed even harder.

“Um, Yuuri? Are you okay?” 

“Yes, yes, sorry, it’s just,” Yuuri felt his familiar flush return, his laughter quickly disappearing as the reality caught up with him. “I just realized my dog, the one I told you about earlier… His name was Viktor, too.”

“Eh?? Really?” Viktor’s eyes were shining, his top lips dipping slightly in the center as he gave Yuuri another heart smile.

“Yeah,” Yuuri said, giving Viktor his own, smaller, smile. “It was the name of a character in a TV show I liked, one that inspired me to start taking skating more seriously.”

“Wow, that’s so cool,” Viktor said, following beside Yuuri as he started walking. “How long have you been skating?”

“Umm, since I was 6? I started ballet first, at 4, and then my instructor said I should try skating after about two years,” Yuuri said, trying to remember it right. The information was all online from the various news programs and skating magazines having asked for his ‘skating beginnings’ years ago while he was still in the junior circuit. It had been a while since Yuuri had to remember it himself.

“I’ve been skating for as long as I can remember,” Viktor replied, and Yuuri looked up in surprise. “I can’t even say if I was four… probably since I was born, really.”

Nodding, Yuuri felt as if that could be very possible given the man who said that. A smile crept onto his face. The small fantasies Yuuri didn’t even realize he had of helping Viktor learn how to skate were dashed, but the idea that he could be skating with someone who knew what they were doing and enjoyed it, all without the pressures of a competition… That sounded rather nice right now.

“I bet you’re pretty good, then,” Yuuri said. He was generally a modest person, but rarely did he come across anyone not in the competitive circuit that could do more than a double axel. It took a lot of hours to get to his level, and from what he could tell, Viktor hadn’t been competitive. 

At least, Yuuri was sure he would’ve remembered seeing someone like Viktor in a skating magazine or competition if he had.

So when they got to the castle, Yuuri helping Viktor into his pair of rental skates and making sure they were tied tightly, it was needless to say Yuuri was beyond surprised when Viktor started pulling out flawless quads before Yuuri had even gotten himself on the ice.

“W-wow, he’s really something, Yuuri,” Yuuko said, watching half in disbelief as the man on the ice launched himself into a quad flip, getting at least a foot and a half between him and the ground before landing without the hint of a wobble. 

Yuri’s mouth was open, but he couldn’t say anything. He merely nodded, eyes on Viktor as his hair followed his every moment. The sheer length of it should’ve gotten in his way but instead it was as carefree as air, following behind Viktor’s every move, and making it hard for Yuuri to look anywhere but Viktor. Of course, just having him on the ice and flawlessly executing moves even Yuuri couldn’t do was a distraction enough.

The idea that Viktor was born skating became more and more believable with each second he was on the ice.

“You said you met him last night? I wonder why he didn’t come and skate yesterday…” 

“Maybe he had only just arrived? I’m still figuring it out myself,” Yuuri said, his half truth of ‘meeting’ Viktor last night and letting him stay the night at the Inn sounding a touch more believable than the truth, but close enough to it that Yuuko could talk about Viktor to his sister or parents (as he knew she would, this was a small town after all) without confusion.

“Hmm, imagine our little Yuuri, growing up and bringing a man home the night after meeting him,” Yuuko teased, nudging Yuuri with her elbow as she gave him a sly smile.

“Haha, yeah… Imagine,” Yuuri replied, focusing his attention back to Viktor. The man’s technique was incredible, he clearly knew what he was doing. How he wasn’t in competition, Yuuri had no idea, but he was sure that if Viktor decided to compete, no one else would be able to touch whatever scores he got.

Yuuri and Yuuko were still watching from the sidelines by the time Viktor skated over, his face happily flushed and a large smile on his face.

“Yuuri! Why haven’t you joined me yet?” he whined, pouting for just a second before bursting into a smile again. Yuuri kept himself from falling over by hanging onto the edge of the rink’s wall.

“Wow, Viktor! You’re amazing! Do you compete?” Yuuko rushed in, her love for figure skating coming out at full force.

“Compete? With who?” Viktor asked, blinking blankly at Yuuko. 

Yuuko’s smile faltered, confusion setting in her features. “I mean, do you compete at figure skating competitions? Like, in Russia or Europe? I’m sure you would do really well in them!”

‘Really, _really_ well,’ Yuuri thought to himself.

Viktor simply tilted his head, still smiling, if slightly more strained. “I’m afraid my job keeps me a bit too busy for such things. Besides, I just skate for fun.”

Yuuri and Yuuko exchanged a quick glance with each other, one that they knew both asked the question how Viktor had enough time to practice to be as good as he was and yet had no time or even drive to compete. Neither said anything.

“Yuuu-ri, c’mon, I want to see what you can do. You said you can skate, right?”

“U-uh, right,” Yuuri said, stiffening up as the position of the best skater here he had naively thought belonged to him was gone and undeniably granted to the mysterious man with a heart shaped smile. 

He tried to play it cool as he walked towards the rink’s opening, taking off his skate guards like he had thousands of times before, and ignoring the sudden pressure to do well in front of this obviously talented man. Who was also beautiful. And watching him.

Yuuri stumbled as he stepped onto the ice. 

“Careful!” Viktor said, laughing as he caught Yuuri with his cold hands. Yuuri quickly pushed him off, getting away from the chill and the embarrassment.

“S-sorry,” Yuuri muttered, skating off so he could take a moment to breath. Viktor followed behind him, but gave him a distance and quiet that Yuuri was grateful for.

Yuuri had spent most of his life on the ice; forgoing sleep, friends, fun, games- all so he could be better, be stronger, be the best. Most of his toenails had fallen off at some point, and there had been more than several anxiety attacks while he tried to balance his school and skating. Nearly all his friends from school quickly grew bored of his never ending practice schedule, so only Yuuko and Takeshi remained, their love for skating allowing them to understand.

Even then, though, for all his struggles, difficulties, and sacrifices, there was a man who simply skated for ‘fun’, that didn’t have enough time to spend on the competitions Yuuri had spent his life training for but could still master a quad loop. No one in the circuit had even brought out a quad loop yet, at least not in competition. Yuuri had only attempted it, once, before hurting himself badly enough he had to take a break from skating for a few days. A break he couldn’t afford during training season. 

And yet, Viktor… Viktor was everything he wanted to be. Effortless, beautiful, and amazing with every move he made on the ice.

Yuuri let his momentum fade and slowed to a stop, Viktor stopping with a few feet still between them, still behind him and still quiet, as if waiting for Yuuri to make the first move. So he did.

“I apologize,” Yuuri started, slowly turning back to Viktor, his eyes trained on the ice where their skates were. He couldn’t bring himself to look up, at least not yet. 

“I… I’m a bit frustrated, and jealous. You are very talented, more than me… More than most skaters I know, actually.” Yuuri laughed a bit, but kept his voice down so that only Viktor would hear him. Half of him couldn’t believe he was being so honest with a person he had only just met, but the other half felt like Viktor was bizarre enough to warrant nothing but honesty. Especially when he could skate like that.

“Yuuri…” Viktor’s skates began to drift forward, as if to approach Yuuri, but quickly stopped when Yuuri’s shoulders tensed.

“It’s… nothing to be ashamed of. Remember what I said, earlier today? Your skating last night was truly amazing, and it spoke to me in ways I don’t think I could ever hope to accomplish.” Yuuri finally looked up, more in confusion than anything. It was one thing to hear a fan tell him his skating was good, another to hear it from someone as naturally talented as Viktor. 

Viktor was frowning, eyebrows creased together in concentration as he thought. A slight imperfection on an otherwise perfect face. Yuuri smiled a little at the sight.

“Where I come from… Everyone skates like me, it’s all the same. We don’t do things like contests, because no one is better than the other. We simply skate because it’s who we are.”

Again, Yuuri had to wonder about Russia, and it’s different culture. Perhaps Viktor came from a small, secluded town filled with skaters that were better than most pro-athletes?

“But you, Yuuri,” Viktor continued, finally skating closer when he saw Yuuri was looking up. “Your skating was so beautiful, so different from all of that. It made me want to seek you out and know more about you.”

Heat burned Yuri’s face, Viktor’s words almost sounding like a confession. It got worse when Viktor grabbed one of Yuri’s hands in both of his, clasping onto it with his icy skin. It helped slightly cool down the heat from his blush.

“I want to know more about you, Yuuri, and how you can skate like that.” Viktor was close, very close, and Yuuri felt like he could drown in those blue eyes on him. 

And if it wasn’t for the painful numbness in his hand, he probably would’ve.

Yuuri pulled away, taking his hand and pressing it under his arm pit to warm it up as he tried to collect himself. 

“Ha ha, you sure are cold.” Mentally smacking himself at the random comment, Yuuri snuck a glance at Viktor to see him looking embarrassed, his cheeks taking a slightly bluer tint. A man truly of the ice, itself.

“Ah! Sorry, I forget how different my body temperature is,” Viktor stammered, looking from his own hands to Yuuri’s, which was still tucked away in his armpit. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, right?”

Yuuri laughed, the tension from earlier broken by Viktor’s sudden worry. Despite being near God in skates, Viktor was still affected by human emotions.

“No, I’m alright, no worries,” Yuuri replied, holding his hand out for Viktor to see. It was still a bit red, but more tingly than numb now, as if he had lightly smacked it on the ice during a wobbly landing on a jump.

“I think I’m ready to start warming up now,” Yuuri said, pushing himself off to start working on some basics. Viktor hummed happily, following Yuuri with a small smile as he copied his every movement, as if it was the first time he had done such a thing. Smiling to himself, Yuuri wouldn’t be surprised if it was. This was Viktor after all, someone who had already managed to get so close to Yuuri after less than a day. Viktor was special.

“What’s this?” Viktor asked, easily tracing the grooves Yuuri made with his figures.

“They’re figures, it’s a good strengthening exercise because… most people have difficulty maintaining a smooth edge,” Yuuri said, watching as Viktor had no issues keeping up with him from a few feet away.

“Really? But you’re doing it so well, Yuuri!” Viktor exclaimed. Yuuri just smiled.

“So how do people compete with skating? Do they see who can jump the highest?” Viktor asked, following behind Yuuri as he started a figure on the other side of the rink.

“Kind of. There’s a lot of different skating competitions, like speed skating or hockey, but I specialize in figure skating, where we have dance routines on the ice to music with elements that are scored for points.”

“You dance on the ice?” Viktor asked, staring at Yuuri with open mouth admiration. Yuuri blushed and pushed off to go a bit faster.

“Er, yeah. I can, um, show you, if you want,” Yuuri offered, almost regretting the words until he saw how Viktor’s face lit up.

“Please!”

Yuko had almost all his music on hand, of course, and soon enough Viktor was hanging against the wall by Yuko, both of them quietly conversing as Yuuri got in place.

“Ready?” Yuko called out. Viktor was beaming at Yuuri, who returned it with his own small smile. His palms were already sweating, but he got into position and gave her a small nod. 

He went with the routine he had for last year while he was in competitions. He didn’t have any this season, given that he hadn’t even passed Japanese nationals. Something the JSF had given him quite a hard time over, since most other Japanese skaters currently in the circuit were younger and less experienced compared to him. 

Another failure and disappointment added to his collection.

Still, the program was one he had found a lot of enjoyment in, despite the low scores he got towards the end of the season with it. 

It centered around his theme for that season, ‘belonging’, which came about not only from his desire to prove himself as belonging amongst the other top skaters, but from his desire to belong with in the community he had moved to from half way across the world, to the friends both in the skating club and in his classes, to the people that were all a part of his life. 

He hadn’t missed the irony being it was that season he had flubbed so badly, leading to not qualifying for any of the competitions for the last season and subsequently becoming a sore thumb at the skating club. And of course, his natural tendency to push people away made friends at school mere acquaintances as he simply focused on school. Phichit was one of the few friends he was able to keep during his last few quarters at the University. 

The first few notes filled the ice castle, and muscle memory had Yuuri flowing with them without hesitation. 

His skates easily worked their way over the ice, carving in new patterns as he breathed life into the routine. It had been a while since he last performed it, but being at a familiar rink, with only his oldest friend and a near stranger watching, Yuuri could forget himself and fade into it. 

An ina bauer transitioned into a spin, each movement paired with a myriad of smaller actions that were both rehearsed and simply what Yuuri felt in the moment. 

Everything was lost to him except for the cool air passing by and the scrape of his skates on the ice. 

He didn’t dare to do more than doubles on his jumps, given how long it had been since he had seriously practiced his quads, but without being scored the knowledge of downgrading his jumps wasn’t as grating as usual.

By the time Yuuri settled into his finishing pose, he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time. 

A small thought that he wouldn’t have been able to find so much peace in the piece if he had preformed it earlier entered his mind, as well as Viktor’s smile.

“Yuuri! That’s was amazing! Even better than your last competition!” Yuuko screeched, happily hitting the half wall between her and the rink. Yuuri smiled shyly, hoping his glasses were safely out of range of her hands.

Viktor hadn’t said anything as he skated over, making it all the more nerve racking as Yuuri came closer, unable to see the expression’s on the other man’s face without his glasses.

“You need to let me know if you want to start giving lessons, Yuuri, because the triplets would be over the moon if you could help them learn-.”

Yuuko’s voice was cut off from Viktor flinging himself at Yuuri, encasing him in his chilly touch. 

“That was beautiful,” he whispered, anything Yuuko might’ve said completely missed by Yuuri’s attention zeroing on Viktor. 

“T-thank you,” Yuuri replied, his own voice only heard in the small bubble the two of them were sharing. 

Viktor was still cold, but Yuuri let the moment last a second longer before pulling away, the heat on his cheeks making it easier to deal with Victor’s freezing skin.

And, as Yuuri looked up at the other man, who was gazing at him with a reverence he was sure he didn’t deserve, it felt like Viktor wasn’t as cold as before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n- so Christmas in Japan is more of a romantic holiday than a family shindig like it is in the West, which is why Yuuri gets all embarrassed about imagining spending it with Viktor lol.
> 
> Also, I'm thinking about having a schedule and uploading a new chapter every Tuesday! (with my work schedule, that's my Sunday lol)   
> Of course, that's if I can get all my other projects done and not go over the word count... I was only going to do like 2-3000 words this chapter but it kept spewing out. So.... But I finished! Ha-HA!
> 
> Okay yes thanks for reading I would love to hear thoughts/comments/screaming into the void with me <3  
> Also I'm on Tumblr!  
> https://unicornsovermyrainbow.tumblr.com


	3. A Welcomed Stanger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor officially meets the family.

They spent a while longer at the rink, Viktor showing off his moves and Yuuri realizing more and more how amazing he truly was. 

Despite seeming irritability humble with his own skating origins, he was happy to take compliments for it, visibly lighting up in a way that couldn’t be anything but genuine. And he had no problem giving them, either, showering Yuuri with praise as Yuuri worked through some of his old routines at Viktor’s request. The triplets were thankfully at school, or Yuuri was sure there would’ve been footage of their practice together leaked all over the internet. 

Viktor was something special, and during their time in the rink, Yuuri started to realize he didn’t really want to share that with the world, at least, not yet. 

Casting his eyes over to where Viktor was happily chatting away with Yuuko as if they had known each other much longer than the last hour or so, Yuuri bit his lip. If the world knew how amazing Viktor was, they would probably try to take him, whether to beg him to be Russia’s premier figure skater or a coach to Russia’s own figure skaters. 

Even though Yuuri had only met the man that morning, through slightly odd circumstances, he didn’t want to let him go. Not yet.

“Yuuri!” Viktor called out as he skated over, his movements on the ice memorizing despite it being a simple push from point A to point B. Yuuri swallowed hard, and tried to push down the blush that was threatening to come back. He had finally gotten rid of the redness in his cheeks, but every time Viktor said something or came near, it seemed to come back.

“Hey Viktor,” Yuuri replied, trying to act nonchalant and ignore the heat building up on his face.

“What’s next? Do you have another routine you can show me?” Viktor asked, his eyes lighting up. Yuuri smiled, before looking up at the clock on the wall of the rink.

“Actually, I think we need to start heading back. It’s almost dinner time, so my parents will probably want help serving and cleaning up.”

Viktor’s shoulders drooped for a moment, the disappointment of leaving the ice clear, until he looked back up with a certain gleam in his eye that Yuuri wasn’t sure he liked.

“Can I help? I know I can’t speak Japanese, but I could at least help clean things, right?”

“Um.” Yuuri blinked, wondering what the social protocol on this sort of situation was. A beautiful foreigner that comes from a very, very different culture, who could skate beyond anything Yuuri had ever seen, and seemed naive to… the ways of the world, was asking to help at the onsen?

“Please? I’ll try not to get in your way or anything,” Viktor said, looking up at Yuuri with pleading eyes despite being taller.

“And…” he continued, looking away for a second before facing Yuuri with a much more serious expression quietly adding, “I don’t really have a place to stay… I know I’ve probably already used your family’s kindness up, so I want to repay them however I can.”

Mouth slightly open, Yuuri tried not to laugh. So Viktor wasn’t as naive as he thought. The look in his eyes showed a hint of his the stubbornness contained behind his words.

It wasn’t right- it wasn’t something Yuuri would’ve thought to do in a hundred years. The onsen wasn’t even an Inn- they didn’t have spare rooms for guests to stay the night. And how long was Viktor hoping to keep this arrangement? It just seemed foolhardy, perhaps even insane.

But Yuuri couldn’t say no.

“Let…. let me ask my parents,” he conceded, not being so far gone that he would leave his parents, who would have to actually deal with Viktor, out of this. If anything, they could probably talk some sense into him and stop Yuuri from doing something as crazy as this.

Viktor broke out into a large smile, positively glowing. “Thanks, Yuuri!” He skated away, exiting the rink and sitting down at a bench to untie his laces, clearly ready to get going.

Yuuri shook his head, glad that Yuuko had gone back to the front desk and didn’t see Yuuri’s lapse in sanity.

 

“What’s your favorite color?” Viktor asked, keeping Yuuri’s pace despite having longer legs. Their feet were being covered in a combination of slow and slush with each step, soaking their shoes. It weighed Yuuri down, making him slower than usual, but Viktor seemed as light as always, as if he didn’t even notice.

“Umm… Blue?” It might’ve been cold outside, but Yuuri could still feel the chill form Viktor’s body since he was so close. 

“Oh, mine’s pink!” Viktor replied, his arm nearly brushing against Yuuri’s in his excitement. “Did you know my second favorite color is purple? Which is just pink and blue combined! Isn’t that interesting, Yuuri?”

Looking up and seeing Viktor’s bright smile, Yuuri nodded numbly. He was cold. It was cold. Even his face couldn’t seem to heat up enough for another blush. 

Part of him was really looking forward to getting to the onsen and defrosting while the other part was slightly terrified about bringing up the topic of Viktor’s potential work and stay situation. It was a fun mix of emotions warring inside of him.

“Are… are you okay, Yuuri? You look a bit pale,” Viktor said, his eyes closely scrutinizing Yuuri’s face. The barest hint of a blush finally managed to flare up, but the chill from Viktor’s body quickly forced it down.

Yuuri sighed, sure that Viktor was probably used to seeing his face blushing all the time now. With the cold keeping it away, he probably did seem pale.

“It’s just… cold,” Yuuri replied, dragging his scarf further up his face to block out the chilly winds. Viktor’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and he quickly backed away.

“Oh, of course. Sorry,” Viktor said, keeping a good foot or so from Yuuri despite being forced to walk on the road because of the added distance. Of course, no one would be out driving right now, not with the snow piled as high as it was or with the cold setting ice everywhere.

Yuuri almost asked Viktor why he would apologize, but the distance did help, the air around him feeling slightly less cold without Viktor by his side. 

They continued the walk in silence, Yuuri slowly warming up again and enjoying the easy quiet shared between them. He rarely felt this relaxed with others, especially people he just met, but Viktor had already proved himself to be someone special so perhaps it wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Makkachin came running out as they approached the onsen, as if he could tell Viktor was there despite neither of the men making much noise.

“Makka!” Viktor grinned, giving his poodle love and attention as Yuuri watched with his own, smaller, grin. Makkachin was so similar to Vicchan, even though he was bigger. More energetic too.

It wasn’t until Yuuri felt something press against his legs that he realized Makkachin had come over to him. Viktor was still crouching on the ground, looking over at Makkachin with the surprise Yuuri felt.

“This is betrayal,” Viktor said before dramatically falling to the ground. Yuuri laughed, reaching down to give Makkachin the love he deserved and enjoying the soft warmth. Briefly he wondered how Makkachin could put up with Viktor’s chilliness, but just as quickly disregarded it. Viktor was special.

“You’re going to get your clothes dirty,” Yuuri commented as he scratched behind Makkachin’s ears.

Viktor jumped up, brushing his clothes off even though there wasn’t anything visibly clinging to him.

“Ah! I’m sorry, I can clean your clothes for you, if you need me to,” Viktor said, his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as he checked every inch of his clothing for dirtiness.

“No worries,” Yuuri said, already wondering where they could get clothes that were actually in Viktor’s size and-.

 _Wait_ , first he had to talk to his parents. Of course. It wasn’t a given that Viktor could just live here, not with how iffy it all was. His parents weren’t crazy enough to simply agree to this scheme.

Yuuri nodded to himself, sure of this.

 

“Of course!” Hiroko smiled, cheerfully agreeing to the crazy idea Yuuri laid out. Yuuri simply blinked, stunned as he saw a matching smile on his father’s face.

“Vicchan seems like a good boy, and as long as he makes you happy, he can stay. I’m glad he wants to help,” his father chimed in as he stirred the pot of miso soup on the stove.

“Yes, yes, I think Mari has already put him to work, too,” his mother said as she doled out portions of rice. 

“Mama Katsuki, we need eight, er, hachi, bowls of rice. Gohan?” Yuuri’s head whipped around to find Viktor standing in the doorway, already wearing the onsen’s uniform despite it being slightly too small for his large frame, and holding a tray of dirty dishes.

“Here, Vicchan,” Hiroko exchanged the dirty tray for the one she had just finished putting rice bowls on.

Mouth still agape, Yuuri ran to the door, his eyes following Viktor as the other man cheerfully greeted guests in awkward Japanese, everyone laughing together, as if this was all normal.

“He’s handsome, and foreign, so there’s been a lot of people coming up here to see a glimpse of him. Everyone’s curiosity has been great for business,” Toshiya said, chuckling.

“You picked a good one, Yuuri,” Hiroko said, patting her son’s back. “Now why don’t you go out and help as well? You’re leaving all the work to Viktor.”

“U-uh, okay,” Yuuri took the tray his mom handed to him, heading out to the serving area on unsteady feet. 

Had everyone lost their mind?! Viktor couldn’t even speak Japanese! At least he hadn’t a few minutes ago…. And they just let him work-!

“Yuuri, let me take that. I’m sure you’ll just be distracted by your boyfriend if you work up front. Go clean the onsen before the night crowd gets here for a last soak,” Mari said, cutting into Yuuri’s way before easily sweeping the tray out of his hands. 

Yuuri wanted to protest, he really did, but found himself already heading towards the baths, only allowing himself one glance back at Viktor, who was happily chatting away in bits of English and Japanese with a group of the people from town Yuuri rarely saw at the onsen.

 

As he scrubbed the tile floor and changed out the towels, Yuuri wondered how Viktor had gotten along with everyone better than he ever did, despite living there most of his life and actually speaking the language.

Viktor really was someone special.

 

Yuuri finished cleaning the baths just in time for the after dinner crowd to start filing in, all of them sated and full and giving Yuuri a hard time about his ‘handsome, foreign boyfriend’. Yuuri tried to correct them, but they would just laugh off his protests. 

With a sinking feeling, Yuuri started to wonder if it was too late to clear up the misunderstanding, if everyone would just continue to believe that Viktor was actually his boyfriend. 

What would he do if Viktor wanted to date someone?! What would he do if Viktor’s Japanese became good enough that he actual understood the lie Yuuri let go on?!

Letting out a long sigh, Yuuri leaned against a wall in the hallway as he wondered what he was going to do.

“Yuuri!” Viktor’s cheerful voice snapped Yuuri out of his melancholy, the suddenness of it making him fall on his ass.

“What are you doing, Yuuri? Mama and Papa Katsuki said you would be cleaning the baths, but then the people there said you left,” Viktor said, holding out a hand to help Yuuri up. It was covered in a glove.

“What…?”

“Oh, this?” Viktor’s eyes followed Yuuri’s stare, immediately brightening up as he held out both hands for Yuuri to see his gloves.

“Mama Katsuki said my hands were too cold and where making the food cool down, so she gave me these! Aren’t they nice?” Yuuri looked at the stretched out knit gloves, wondering where his mom had even found them. They still had a ‘Y’ embarrassingly stitched onto the backs.

Taking the hand Viktor still had out for him, Yuuri replied, “They’re uh, nice.” With the gloves on, Yuuri could still feel the slight chill of Viktor’s skin but it was much easier to ignore. 

He found himself still holding onto Viktor’s hand even after getting up several seconds ago. At least, until he realized what he was doing and promptly let go.

“Are you okay, Yuuri?” Viktor asked, still smiling, if it was slightly smaller. Yuuri gave a tight lip smile in reply, before blinking.

“Wait, ‘Mama and Papa Katsuki’?” Yuuri said, half sure he heard it wrong but also half sure his brain wouldn’t make up something so ridiculous.

“Yep!” Viktor’s heart smile was back. Yuuri’s blush decided to answer it. “I was having a hard time saying their names, so they said I could just call them ‘Mama’ or ‘Papa’ Katsuki. They’re so nice!”

“Uh-huh…” Yuuri wasn’t sure what to think. Yuuri wasn’t sure if he was capable of things like thoughts right now. How was this his life? What had happened in the last 24 hours that made this his life?

Why had everyone around him gone crazy?

Looking up at Viktor, who was still staring at Yuuri, his beautiful blue eyes shining bright despite the slight lack of light in the hallway, Yuuri had to wonder when _he_  had gone crazy.

“Yuuri, are you done with the men’s baths yet? Let’s switch, you can be with your boyfriend for kitchen duty,” Mari popped out from the end of the hall, her sudden appearance causing Yuuri’s heart to stop for a second or two. 

“He’s not-,” Yuuri started to protest, knowing he needed to clear up the misunderstanding before someone said something that Viktor understood, but one glance at the sweet and innocent look on Viktor’s face had the concept of speaking impossible.

“Both of you in the kitchen?” Mari repeated, this time in English, crossing her arms impatiently as a sibling who wasn’t about to let her brother get out of work.

“Oh, yes! No problem,” Viktor chirped, grabbing Yuuri’s sleeve so he could drag them there. Mari held Yuuri’s stare for a few more seconds, making sure they were actually heading to the kitchen, before breaking into a knowing smile as she headed for the woman’s baths. Yuuri felt slightly betrayed, but willingly followed Viktor, who continued to hold onto Yuuri’s shirt, lose enough that Yuuri could pull away if he wanted.

He didn’t.

 

“Yuuri, why are you getting a futon?” The question stopped Yuuri mid-stride, the futon and stack of blankets in his arms being readjusted as he turned to face his mother.

“For Viktor,” he replied, not sure why his mother was the one who looked as confused as he felt. 

Viktor was helping his father clean out the dining area, so Yuuri thought it was a good time as any to set up Viktor’s bed. He had almost asked if Viktor could use the banquet room to sleep in, but felt bad enough for imposing on his family with Viktor’s sudden appearance, despite how much they seemed to like him, to ask for another favor.

“Viktor?” His mother placed a hand on her cheek, before smiling with a sly look in her eyes Yuuri wasn’t sure he liked. “Sweetie, we know he was with you last night, you don’t have to pretend you’re not sleeping together.”

It took all of three seconds for the words to process in Yuuri’s mind and then another two for his face to reach a scorching shade of scarlet. 

“M-mom!” He sputtered, unable to actual say anything. He had rarely talked about such things with Phichit, his best friend, let alone his parents! 

“It’s alright, sweetie, as long as you both are happy and stay safe,” his mother said, patting Yuuri on the arm. Yuuri couldn’t move, his mind practically buzzing with static knowing he was actually talking about this with his mother, about a stranger, who was admittedly very attractive, that probably didn’t even know what lie Yuuri had fallen on.

“Oya-sumi-nasai!” Viktor’s voiced carried in from the hallway, and Yuuri turned to see the other man already walking towards them, bright smile undiminished despite being worked hard for the last several hours. 

“Mama katsuki! Genki des-ka?” Viktor’s Japanese was awkward and stilted, but the sound of it still had Yuuri freeze up. 

“Oh, Vicchan! I’m fine, thank you. Your Japanese, much better now,” Hiroko said, her own English far from fluent but still leagues above Viktor’s Japanese. For now.

Yuuri felt a chilling bead of sweat travel down his back.

“Ari-ga-toe!” Viktor replied, his cheeks glowing blue in his own version of a blush as he turned towards Yuuri. “What are those for?”

“A-ah, for you,” Yuuri stumbled over his words, his own fluency in both languages nearly forgotten with the over looming problem of Viktor’s ability to pick up Japanese. “I was heading up to… my room. It’s for you to sleep on.”

“Oh, thank you, Yuuri. Let me help you,” Viktor said, not giving room for argument as he took the blankets off the top of the futon. Yuuri’s arms silently thanked Viktor.

“Vicchan, go sleep. You work hard, must be tired,” Hiroko said, the sly look returning.

“Mom….”

“Okay, Mama Katsuki, Oya-sumi-nasai!” Viktor said, smiling as he went down the hall towards the stairs that lead to Yuuri’s room, Makkachin dutifully following him.

“Have fun,” Hiroko said, winking at Yuuri before she left. Yuuri was left in the middle of the hall, torn between laughing or tearing his hair out at the insane situation he was currently facing.

He settled for an eye twitch before heading off to follow Viktor. 

When Yuuri got to his room, the need to laugh or scream returned. Viktor was curled around Makkachin, slowly petting her in Yuuri’s bed, the blankets carefully placed next to Yuuri’s own pillow as Viktor used it to lay his and Makkachi’s head against.

“Viktor,” Yuuri said, his voice low as he fought to keep any trembling out of it.

“Hmm?” Viktor looked up, slowing opening his eyes as if he had actually already been sleeping. His hair was spread around his makeshift pillow blanket haphazardly, a mess of silver that somehow looked like art on Viktor. Yuuri could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a moment.

“Uh, well, don’t you want pajamas? And um, that’s… my bed,” Yuuri finished lamely, the futon still in his arms.

“Pajamas? And yes, of course this is your bed,” Viktor said, still petting Makkachin as he looked down at the twin sized bed with his sleepy eyes. “I remember seeing you sleep on it this morning. It’ll be a tight fit, but I’m sure we can figure it out.”

Yuuri had to stop himself from combusting at the thought of Viktor watching him sleep (how long was he out there??) and set down the futon, a good foot from his bed, with a decisive precision. 

“No, it’s my bed, Viktor. It’s… too cold to sleep next to you, so please use this futon instead,” Yuuri said, ignoring Viktor’s stare and his own increasing blush as he headed to his dresser and pulled out pajamas for both himself and Viktor. 

“You can use these to sleep in, they should fit,” Yuuri said, tossing a pair of sweatpants and his largest shirt to Viktor as he kept his own pajamas clutched to his chest.

“I had a spare toothbrush you can use. Follow me to the bathroom and I’ll show you where everything is.”

Viktor silently followed Yuuri to the bathroom, casting a curious stare at Yuuri but not saying anything other than a simple thank you as Yuuri gave him the toothbrush. They took turns using the bathroom, Viktor first, and then Yuuri, the modest family bathroom not quite big enough for more than two people unless they wanted to be very, very close to one another. 

So, they took turns.

By the time Yuuri returned back to his room, Viktor was on the futon with Makkachin by his side and the blankets moved down with him, still acting as a pillow. Viktor was still wearing his old gloves, too.

“I’m going to turn off the lights, okay Viktor?”

“Okay.”

It was dark as Yuuri carefully made his way to the other side of the room, the light from his window thankfully helping him avoid Viktor. He pulled up his blankets before sinking into his bed, his body happy to be resting after running around all day, but his mind still very aware of the other man in his room.

“Um, Viktor, are you awake?” Yuuri tried after a few moments of laying in bed.

“Yes.” Sounds of movement filled their silence as Viktor undoubtably turned towards Yuuri. “Do you want to talk?”

“I-I guess,” Yuuri replied, restraining his eyes from looking down to see exactly how Viktor moved.

It seemed now was as good of a time as any, Yuuri thought, knowing he couldn’t keep lying to both his family _and_ Viktor. He couldn’t be alone in this mess he created.

“So… I’m sure you’re probably wondering why my family was so, er, welcoming,” Yuuri started, hands bunching his blankets to his chest.

“Of course not, it’s because they’re so nice!” Viktor replied, his usual energy down a notch but still there. Yuuri sighed.

“Uh, no. I mean, they are nice, but that’s not really- er, anyways, so when they saw you come down with me from my room this morning, they, well, they thought…” Yuuri could feel his face getting progressively hotter, willing himself to get out the words.

“Yes?” There was the tiniest hint of teasing in Viktor’s words, as if he knew just how hard Yuuri was trying to speak. It felt like a challenge and Yuuri was nothing if not a challenger.

“Well they thought we slept together and have basically been referring to you as my b-boyfriend throughout the day.” It was not the most articulate English Yuuri had ever spoken, but the gasp from Viktor told Yuuri the message got across.

“Really?” It was hard to tell if Viktor was offended, his voice carefully not betraying any emotion, though decidedly less brighter than before.

“Um, yes,” Yuuri said, his mind starting to whir into action as he wondered if it was annoyance behind those words, or anger, or even disgust-.

“Hmm, okay,” Viktor said, cutting through Yuuri’s thoughts. “Are you okay with that?”

Yuuri blinked at the darkness of his ceiling- having Viktor worried about him wasn’t even a thought that has crossed his mind.

“I mean, yeah, it’s no big deal for me,” he replied, wondering why that felt like it was all too true. Viktor was a stranger that had imposed on him, showing up in such a bizarre fashion Yuuri was still trying to process it. He had taken Yuuri’s clothes and time and even asked for a place to stay. To anyone, regardless of culture, it looked like Viktor was taking advantage of Yuuri.

And yet, Yuuri genuinely didn’t mind. Not when he thought of Viktor’s cheerful playing in the snow with Makkachin, how he was already working hard to learn Japanese, or how he worked without complaint and only asked if he could do more. Or his skating… How his figure glided across the ice in such a way that Yuuri could still see it as he closed his eyes.

Viktor was not just anyone, he was special, he was someone Yuuri wanted to hold onto and learn more about. 

Viktor was… 

“That’s good to hear. Then, thank you and good night, Yuuri,” Viktor replied, the sleepiness in his tone hard to ignore.

“O-of course,” Yuuri quietly stuttered back, wondering how he was going to sleep when his heart was beating so hard.

“Good night, Viktor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh... missed last week (personal issues) and this week is a little late but this story is still alive! Hopefully I'll be able to update it next Tuesday. Hopefully. Like, maybe. We'll see lol.  
> <3 Loving all the comments, they keep me going! Thank you and hope you guys continue to enjoy this~


	4. Spring's first warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter, but it's still Tuesday in my timezone so go me. 
> 
> In which Yuuri starts to get used to his new room mate, who undoubtedly has lived under a slab of ice for most of his life, but can also somehow use chopsticks.

When Yuuri starts to wake up, he burrows deeper into his covers, not quite willing to give into his body’s insistence. His alarm hadn’t even gone off yet, so why would he even-.

That’s when Yuuri realizes two things. One being that he was holding something in his hands and the other a slight chill setting over his face in timed measures, like someone breathing next to him.

Opening his eyes, he realized it was because someone _was_ right next to him.

Viktor was wide awake, his eyes on Yuuri’s as if he had already been staring at him, looking as beautiful as always even without Yuuri using his glasses.

“A-ah, morning Viktor,” Yuuri tried not to gasp, or run away, although his body was so tense he could barely move. 

“Good morning, Yuuri! Did you sleep well? I got a whole 4 hours in!” Viktor’s smile was as charming and bright as always, and Yuuri had to squint lest he be blinded. 

“…4 hours?”

“Mmn, yeah! Usually I only need an hour or two of sleep, but I guess all the skating and running around yesterday really tired me out!” Viktor laughed, as if this fact was silly and worth laughing about. Yuuri found himself giving a few hesitant laughs as well, wondering just what else Viktor was capable of.

The chill in his hands reminded him of whatever he had clutched in his grasp, which, as he looked down, he realized Viktor’s arm was resting on the bed and trailing into his covers right to his chest and- oh goodness, he was holding onto Viktor’s hand.

“S-sorry!” Yuuri said, jumping up and letting go of Viktor’s hand. Viktor quietly took his arm back with a smile, opening and closing the released hand, still covered in Yuuri’s old glove, as if getting the blood to flow through again.

“I didn’t- I mean, it’s, um,” Yuuri floundered about, trying to explain himself when he had no way of actually doing so. He had known drunk Yuuri did some embarrassing things, but now he had to worry about sleeping Yuuri too? 

“…How long have I been…. doing that?” Yuuri settled for, not quite sure if he wanted to know but at the same time needing to. He needed to know how bad sleeping Yuuri was if he was going to control him, right?

“Hmm, well after I went through your closet and drawers, I got bored and decided to watch you sleep again, like yesterday… I think I did that for a few hours until you grabbed my hand an hour ago?”

“Oh really?” Yuuri replied, trying to keep the internal screaming, internal. Viktor had gone through his room? Yuuri could understand the boredom getting to Viktor but they were going to have to talk about boundaries. At least he didn’t look under Yuuri’s bed.

“I think I’m ready to wake up, then,” Yuuri said as he collapsed back into his still warm sheets. Honestly, he could probably sleep for another day or so, but who knew what Viktor would get up to in that time?

“Really? Are you going to skate today?” Viktor asked, barely containing his excitement as he leaned in towards Yuuri from the edge of the bed.

“Um, well, it depends how much help my parents need, and if the sidewalk is covered in snow or ice again I’ll have to clear it for the customers,” Yuuri said, sitting up so he could take a look out the window. 

He blinked, taking a moment to grab his glasses from the night stand to make sure his vision wasn’t _that_ bad.

The snow was gone.

“Eh?” Yuuri looked over his clear view of Hasetsu again, not finding any trace of snow hiding away. The snowstorm might’ve been late in the year, but it usually took a day or two for that much to melt, at least.

“Looks like you don’t have to worry about cleaning the sidewalk!” Viktor cheerfully said, looking over Yuuri’s shoulder with a sly smile on his face. 

“Right. We can probably skate today, then,” Yuuri said, half in bewilderment and half joking, wondering if this was his life now. 

“Let’s help your parents first though, right?” Viktor was already up, holding out a hand to Yuuri, who felt like he was still half asleep compared to the energy Viktor was brimming with. 

“Er, right.” Yuuri took the hand on autopilot, feeling his heart lurch forward as Viktor pulled him straight out of bed with one good tug. 

Blinking rapidly, Yuuri felt much more awake with his heart beating hard as Viktor steadied him.

“Here! I already got dressed but I got you some clothes too! Let’s go!” Viktor was already wearing the onsen’s uniform and had one laid out for Yuuri as well. Yuuri hadn’t had an official uniform since he left home for university, but that one was too small now, so he had just been using the extra uniforms they had set aside just in case. 

Of course, those weren’t in Yuuri’s room. Yuuri had to wonder what else Viktor had done while he was sleeping. 

Viktor took Makkachin out, with a plastic baggie (“But _Yuuri_ , he wouldn’t do something like that-.” “Just take it, please.”) as Yuuri changed and headed downstairs. 

“Yuuri! Good morning, did you sleep well?” Toshiyo was in the kitchen, working on making breakfast as Hiroko delivered food.

“Mnn, yeah, thanks. Do you guys need help today?” Yuuri asked, peeking through the kitchen window to see only a few patrons out on the tables. 

“No, I don’t think so. At least not yet. Why? Got another date today?” Yuuri’s face flushed crimson as he let the cloth fall and cover the window again. Right, he and Viktor talked about this yesterday. Yuuri said he was fine with it. And he totally was. Completely. No question.

“I, um, well, it’s, you know, haha.” Yuuri cleared his throat and looked away from the questioning look his father gave him.

“Y-yes,” he finally squeaked out, wondering again what had compelled him to agree to this-.

“Yuuri!” Viktor hung from the kitchen door, smile bright as always. Yuuri returned it.

“O-hai-o, papa Katsuki,” Viktor sang as Makkachin went to greet Yuuri, tagging wagging. 

“おはよう, Vicchan. Breakfast?” Viktor eagerly nodded, looking delighted as Toshiyo explained what he was making in a combination of Japanese and English. Yuuri watched with a smile as he continued petting Makkachin, face a little less red now.

Viktor and Yuuri ate their breakfast across from each other at the family table, set away from the customers. Yuuri took a sip of his tea, enjoying the grilled salmon his father had added today, something he rarely made for the family’s everyday breakfast. Yuuri had a strong feeling Viktor charmed his father into it.

“Wow, this is so good!” Viktor said, digging into the food with minimal issues using the chopsticks, although he did look to Yuuri’s utensils every so often as if to make sure of what he was doing. 

“I kind of want to go for a run after breakfast, if you want to?” Yuuri asked as he took another chuck of fish meat from the bones.

“A run? What are you running from?” Viktor asked, looking up at Yuuri while frowning.

Yuuri started laughing, but trailed off when Viktor didn’t join.

“I run… not from anything, but to stay in shape. Like ice skating, I don’t have to, but it’s fun and is a good work out, right?”

“Oh, then yes! I would love to do a run with you, Yuuri.”

Well, Yuuri supposed that settled that. He did have to wonder about the rock Viktor had been living under, or perhaps what slab of ice he had been stuck to.

Makkachin joined them on their run as well, Yuuri taking one of his favorite routes that went on the beach for a mile or so. Viktor got another pair of sweatpants and was stuck with the barely dried shoes from yesterday, but didn’t seem to mind or even notice until Yuuri asked if it was okay. 

The day was fair, the sun already lighting up a clear blue sky with only a slight chill that carried the promise of Spring’s coming. Yuuri reveled in the warmer weather, even taking off his jacket halfway through the run to let his skin cool off. 

It had been a good two or so miles to the beach, so Yuuri wasn’t too surprised that Viktor decided to take a break when they got to the beach, sitting on the sand and throwing a stick for Makkachin as he waited for Yuuri to finish the beach portion of the run. 

The time alone gave Yuuri room for thoughts, the steady beat of his feet against the sand keeping his mind from getting to wound up. He didn’t know what he was going to do about Viktor, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stop thinking about his future. 

When Phichit has asked him several months ago, Yuuri told his best friend that he would probably just take the one year off for school and then get back into skating. But time was slipping by, pulling Yuuri along with it and if he didn’t start preparing for the next season now, it would be another year lost. 

Letting out a deep sigh between his even breaths, Yuuri knew he wasn’t getting any younger. There were some skaters who could go until their 30s, yes, but those were few and far between, and frankly Yuuri couldn’t see himself going for that long. 

The risk of injuries were too great, and despite loving being in competitions it wasn’t something he wanted to do for so long. He was already pushing his body as it was. Mostly, he just wanted to actually accomplish something he was proud of, like winning gold in the Grand Prix at least once. Something he could honorably retire after, before he put his hard earned degree to use.

The warmer weather had brought one or two other people out to the beach, still bundled up but enjoying a walk or running like Yuuri. Yuuri waved, smiling at the faces he could mostly recognize. 

Perhaps he was meant to stay here, in this small town. He didn’t hate it, although he did miss some of the conveniences living in a larger city had. He could simply stay here, maybe getting a coaching certificate and teach classes at the ice castle, one day take over the Onsen with Mari…

It wasn’t a bad life, and he was already heading down that path, but it was hard to ignore the twisting in his gut to think that was it. Perhaps if he was lucky, the burn of his aspirations and goals would fade in a few years.

Biting his lip at that thought, he spotted Viktor still sitting in the same place where he left him earlier.

Makkachin was by his side now, seemingly content to gaze out at the waters with Viktor. The man’s long hair was tied up with one of Mari’s hair bands, a loose bun barely containing the sliver strands but looked effortlessly beautiful despite the mess. 

Yuuri had to slow down, taking in Viktor’s subdued profile and wondering just what the other man was thinking. After seeing him so happy most of the time, the lack of smile felt off on him. 

“Viktor,” Yuuri called out when he was only a few yards away, wanting him to know he was there.

Viktor turned, his eyes instantly lighting up when they saw Yuuri but his usual smile smaller than usual.

“Are you alright?” Yuuri asked as he got closer, noticing the almost parlor complexion on Viktor’s face. 

“Mmn, yeah, just a bit tired, I guess,” Viktor said, stretching as he got up. “Do you think we could go to the rink now?”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Yuuri asked, walking besides Viktor as Makkachin dutifully followed behind them. 

“Of course! If anything, it’ll help,” Viktor said, smiling a little wider now. Yuuri smiled back, not doubting his words. 

The thoughts from earlier left, his shoulders feeling lighter, and Yuuri found himself hoping Viktor stayed for a while in his small town. 

 


	5. INTERNET WORK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OMG THIS STUPID INTERNET CONNECTION PEICE OF SHI-

The moment Viktor was back on the ice, he was just as bright and energetic as before. His cheeks were alight with a glowing blue that make his eyes sparkle, his mouth shaped like a heart as he laughed.

“Yuuri! Come on, skate with me!” He yelled from the center of the ice before flawlessly executing a quad flip. 

“Coming, one second…” Yuuri called back, working over the old laces of the spare skates he always kept at the ice castle. They weren’t nearly as nice as the sponsored pair he usually wore, but they were still better than rental skates Viktor had to settle for. Not that anyone could tell if they saw what Viktor could do in them…

Yuuri was glad to see Viktor feeling better, it was as if the ice brought him back to himself. It had taken long enough to get used to the naturally blue tint of Viktor’s skin, but when he felt ill, the paleness in his complexion reminded Yuuri of death. It was a bit worrying. 

The man certainly did better in colder climates, it seemed, but as Yuuri took a look out the windows to see the blue skies and bright sun, he had to wonder how Viktor would deal with Spring. It was just a few weeks away. And then Summer…

Of course, that was only if Viktor actually stayed that long. 

Yuuri stepped out onto the ice, where Viktor immediately swooped by and grabbed his hands, pulling him along the ice without slowing down.

“A-ah, Viktor! What are you doing?!” Yuuri cried, working his legs out so that he wouldn’t trip as he kept up with Viktor’s fast pace.

“Having fun!” Viktor replied with a laugh. At first, Yuuri laughed in disbelief, before adrenaline kicked in and the cold air rushing past felt a bit less like a death wish and more… _fun_. Then he found himself laughing right with Viktor, their hands still connected as Viktor skated backwards around the rink. 

Despite the chill from the ice and Viktor’s hands, Yuuri felt warmth blossoming in his chest, swelling to the sound of their laughter.

“Hold on!” That was all the warning Yuuri got before Viktor twisted them and threw his weight over so that he was spinning Yuuri.

It was terrifying and exhilarating, the ice easily sliding under his skates without any odd nicks or cuts causing him to lose his balance. Viktor seemed to know exactly what to do, keeping Yuuri’s hands firmly in his own as they spun around, a move Yuuri had only tried with Phichit once or twice before, but never this fast or for this long, usually quickly ending when one or the other tripped and brought them both to the ground.

But with Viktor… Yuuri kept his eyes centered on the man in front of him, both to keep him from getting dizzy and because he didn’t want to look anywhere else. Viktor looked like a kid, beaming with joy and face flushed blue. They spun faster and faster, but Yuuri didn’t feel any fear. 

Exhilaration, sure. Amazement, definitely. But fear? Somehow, he didn’t. At least, not when Viktor was holding onto him.

“Ready?” Viktor asked, not giving any hints as to what he meant by that, but Yuuri didn’t hesitate to give an answer.

“Yes!” Yuuri’s cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much, and he couldn’t wait to see what Viktor had next. 

“Okay!” Viktor let them slow down a bit, the world not blurring around them quite as much. Yuuri watched him move, wondering what he was up to. 

When Viktor let go and dove forward, Yuuri knew. 

Viktor let go of Yuuri’s hands for a second before placing his own over either side of Yuuri’s ribs, the ice disappearing from under Yuuri’s blades as Viktor lifts him into the air, both of them carried forward by the momentum left over from the spinning.

It’s the first time Yuuri’s ever been lifted, bringing him high off the ground as his hair waves in the wind on the outer edges of his vision, but all he can focus on is the man beneath him. Despite not wearing glasses, Yuuri can still see Viktor’s eyes on him as well, watching with a small smile that Yuuri can feel himself returning. Never in a hundred years would he trust someone to lift him, let alone without actually asking, but somehow Yuuri doesn’t mind at all.

The air moves around, or maybe even with them as the world blurs once more, all of Yuuri’s focus on Viktor and his beautiful crystal blue eyes.

It was in this moment that Yuuri found himself thinking that besides Viktor’s inhumanly good looks, he was a beautiful person on the inside as well. How could he not trust him?

As Viktor slowed and gently brought Yuuri back down, he barely noticed, their eyes locked on one another. Yuuri didn’t know if he was supposed to say something- he felt like he wanted to but at the same time he didn’t want to disrupt the moment they carved out for themselves.

“Yuuri…” Viktor breathed out, his voice barely more than a whisper as his body got close enough that Yuuri could feel the chill from it. A shiver went down his spine, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the temperature, or the look in Viktor’s eyes. 

“Yuuri!” They broke apart, mostly by Yuuri jumping backwards in reaction to Yuuko’s sudden voice. She was still around the corner, and hadn’t seen them, so Yuuri took the chance to skate over to the boards to talk to her. 

His heart was nearly beating out of his chest but he tried to calm down as he saw Yuuko. He could hear Viktor’s skates following behind him, but at least several feet away and hesitant. Yuuri sighed in relief, glad for the small break. As much as he enjoyed the other man’s company, he was starting to worry about his heart’s health.

“What’s up, Yuuko?” Yuuri asked, staying in English for Viktor’s sake. Yuuko had studied English alongside him, going to a few international competitions herself when she was younger, and was nearly as good as him.

“How’s practice going?” She glanced over at Viktor, an odd look in her eyes. “Have you been thinking about getting a coach soon? You need to get working on next season!” Yuuri tensed, Yuuko voicing the same thoughts he had been going over and over again in his own mind for the last few months. 

“Uhh, I mean, there’s not really…” Yuuri wanted to say there weren’t any coaches that would be interested in helping him this season, but he had already received a few offers from coaches in Tokyo and Kyoto. Even the JSF had reached out and asked him if he needed help finding a coach, but Yuuri declined, wanting to figure things out for himself. 

It didn’t help that he didn’t think he could work with anyone right now, after failing so bad at the Grand Prix Final. It felt like any offers were just pitying him, as if he was so weak he couldn’t even figure it out himself. 

Of course, it left Yuuri with very few options left, if any.

“Yuuu-ri, this isn’t something you can dawdle on! C’mon, I’m sure the JSF has talked to you, right? What about your old coach, Itamoto-sensei? I’m sure she would be happy to have you back, if just for the season.”

“Well, that’s kind of…”

“A coach for what?” Viktor popped into the conversation, his curiosity obviously getting the better of him. Thankfully, it helped take Yuuko’s focus off of Yuuri.

“His next season, of course! He needs help setting everything up and getting into shape, as well as figuring out this year’s skates. Oh, and costumes, and all the forms…” Yuuko kept ticking things that Yuuri had to do with her fingers, as if pointing out the need for a coach. Honestly, it would be near impossible to compete with out one, although Yuuko seemed to edge more on the ‘it would be completely stupid to compete without one’ side of things. It wasn’t wrong.

“Wow, that’s a lot of work. Is that all for those competitions you do, Yuuri?” Viktor asked, looking over to Yuuri, completely oblivious.

“Uh, yeah, if I’m going to do this next season I have to start preparing soon, or else I won’t be ready in time…”

“Wait, ‘ _if_ ’? Yuuri, you aren’t thinking…” Yuuko cut herself off, looking up at Viktor before frowning at Yuuri. 

“We’ll talk more about this later,” she says in Japanese, before switching back to English, “Viktor, have you ever watched any of Yuuri’s old performances? You should ask Mari, his parents have recorded all of his past competitions!”

“Wha- no, Yuuko!”

“Amazing, really?!”

 

After another hour or so of skating, Yuuri decides he’s ready for lunch. Viktor is happy to go with him, almost skipping along the now ice-free road to the onsen. The farther he gets from the ice rink and the longer he stays under the sun, though, Yuuri notices him visibly deflating. 

On a last minute impulse, Yuuri drags Viktor into a small konbini thats on their way. The air conditioner isn’t on, since it isn’t actually hot yet, but Viktor seems to perk up all the same, the cooler air and colorful packages of food catching his eye. Yuuri goes straight for the refrigerated section, picking up something he know is not part of his diet, but paying for it none the less.

“Here,” Yuuri says, holding up two ice cream cones in one hand, a chocolate and vanilla. “Choose which one you want.”

Viktor blinks, looking at Yuuri and the ice cream before picking out the vanilla. Yuuri nods, taking the plastic covers for both ice creams off before throwing them in the recycling can outside the konbini. 

“How is it?” Yuuri asked, watching Viktor instead of eating his own ice cream.

Viktor looks at the ice cream as if he’s sizing it up before taking a large bite. Yuuri’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the unique technique, but as Viktor’s face lights up and glows blue, he smiles and takes a small lick of his own ice cream.

“This is good! This is really good!” Viktor exclaims, chomping down on the soft cold treat, easily getting through the cone before they’ve gotten ten feet away from the store. 

When Viktor starts to lick his fingers, Yuuri offers him his own chocolate cone, which Viktor takes with sparkling eyes before eagerly eating that ice cream as well. As he finishes off that one, Yuuri makes a note to himself to stock up on ice cream at home.

“I’m glad you like it. I think you might like soba noodles. They’re served cold. Maybe we can have some tonight.” If the rest of his family is up for it, of course. They usually don’t have soba until late spring, but with Viktor as charming as he is, Yuuri doesn’t think he’ll have to do much convincing. 

“Hmm, that sounds good. I’d like that,” Viktor replies, smiling at Yuuri with a bit of ice cream still on the corner of his lips. Without thinking, Yuuri licks his thumb and reaches over to clean it off, with only the cold touch of Viktor’s skin waking him up to his actions.

“A-ah, sorry, there, uh, was some ice cream, and, um.” 

“Really?” Viktor sticks his tongue out to cover the area Yuuri just touched, before wiping at it with his hand. 

“You, um, yeah, you got it,” Yuuri said, only slightly mortified now, glad Viktor didn’t seem to mind his over step. 

“Thanks Yuuri!” 

“…No problem.”

Makkachin didn’t come running out of the onsen this time, instead lazily staying in the main room where a few patrons were giving him belly rubs. He lifted his head when Yuuri and Viktor came in, even wagged his tail a few times, but ended up laying back down to enjoy the attention. 

Laughing Viktor, exchanged his borrowed shoes for a pair of slippers and went ahead of Yuuri into the onsen, looking around for something.

“Viktor, what are-.” Yuuri tries asking, but Viktor shoots off before he can finish his question. Raising an eyebrow, Yuuri follows after him, though he paused for a moment to pet Makkachin.

He could hear Viktor’s excited English down the hall, talking to someone. It wasn’t until he got closer that he saw it was Mari, who was wearing an amused expression on her face, one that seemed to get more devious when she spotted Yuuri.

Oh, that probably wasn’t a good sign.

“Yuuri, how about you go get the towels from the men’s bath before lunch? I didn’t get a chance to earlier,” Mari said, speaking in English for Viktor’s benefit.

“Why now? Can’t I do it after lunch?” Yuuri asks, narrowing his eyes at the two of them. Viktor was wearing a pleasant enough smile on his face, but the look in his eyes and silence was suspicious enough.

“Nope. You wanna eat, you gotta work, right? I need Viktor’s help getting something, he’s the only one tall enough.”

Sighing, Yuuri decided he’d deal with whatever they had planned later. Right now he was tired and craving real food after a bit of the ice cream he had, so the sooner he finished with the towels the sooner he could eat.

“Fine, fine, I’ll see you guys in a few minutes,” Yuuri relinquishes, heading back towards the men’s baths without a glance back. Viktor and him were on the same page now, but it still felt weird to just leave him.

Especially with his sister.

Especially with his sister wearing _that_ look.

Yuuri rolled his eyes. He would find out what they were up to soon enough.

 

And, as Yuuri walked in on the two in the family dining room, hunched over Mari’s phone, Yuuri only took a moment to make out the music from the tinny notes coming out of her phone. 

“You guys are watching my programs?!” Yuuri dove towards them, sliding against the smooth and worn tatami mats as his sister easily evaded his reach.

“Viktor wanted to see your skating with all the costumes and glitz, if I don’t show him he’ll find it himself later,” Mari said, obviously unaware  of how bad Viktor was with technology. Just this morning he had asked Yuuri if his phone was a bookmark. 

“It’s not that interesting,” Yuuri mumbles, giving up competing with his sister’s reflexes. Despite being the professional athlete, his sister had always been good at evading him. At least he still beat her in most video games.

“What are you talking about, Yuuri?! This is amazing! you look so cool dancing in front of such a large audience, there’s nothing like this where I come from,” Viktor exclaimed, his cheeks flushed with blue as he looked up to Yuuri with sparkling eyes.

“Where do you come from, Viktor?” Mari asked, a simple question that made Viktor go rigid before laughing. Yuuri leaned in, wondering how Viktor would answer.

“O-oh, you know, um… Russia,” he replied, gesturing widely with his hand as if that could better convey his answer.

“Hmm, so that’s where your accent is from,” Mari said, her eyes still on her phone, clicking through without seeing the tight smile on Viktor’s face. Of course, Yuuri saw it. 

“Ah, here, this is his performance from last season, where he made it to the final and competed against five of the top male skaters in the world,” Mari said, motioning Viktor to come close to the phone again.

“Mari, not that one!” Yuuri protested, reaching out to take the phone and missing as Mari had anticipated it, easily ducking away. “I failed horribly…”

“It’s the short program, not the free skate,” Mari easily replied, glancing up at Yuuri.

“What happened with the free skate?” Viktor asked, clueless as he blinked at the siblings, who were currently glaring at each other. Of course, Yuuri more so than Mari.

“Nothing,” Mari said, dismissing the tense air around the table with ease, “Now here, watch this. I think this was one of his best performances of the season. He placed second with this program.”

 

The subject was avoided for the rest of lunch, although Yuuri could feel Viktor wanting to ask about the free skate with the questioning looks he kept giving him. Yuuri ignored them, his attention focused on the crab stew his father had cooked up today.

Viktor kept the conversation going with Mari, who was more than happy to tell him about her favorite singer, Takeo. Yuuri always thought the obsession was a bit much, but then he had dedicated most of his life to a sport, so he couldn’t say much.

By the time they finished, Hiroko had come by and asked if Yuuri and Viktor could weed the garden. Viktor happily agreed as Yuuri groaned, and then asked what ‘weeding’ was after Hiroko left. Mari laughed at the both of them.

 

“Those gloves won’t work as well, Viktor, you’ll get them dirty,” Yuuri explained, patiently, for the third time. Viktor was having a hard time taking off the gloves he had kept on without fail since Hiroko had given them to him. He had both gloved hands clutched to his chest, frowning at the gloves Yuuri was offering.

“But I don’t want to take them off. Mama Katsuki gave them to me,” Viktor complained, holding his hands tighter against himself. Yuuri’s left eye twitched, the hour or so of work still ahead of them and Viktor’s irritating reluctance to give up his gloves making it take even longer. Yuuri had hoped to get a session of ballet practice later, but if Viktor kept this up, they would be stuck working until dinner time.

“Viktor, you’ll ruin those. I swear I’ll keep them safe, so please just take them off for now.” Despite being practically glued to each other’s sides, Yuuri had never seen Viktor take off the gloves since he got them. He had also never seen Viktor go to the bathroom either, but that was another thought of its own.

“But…” Viktor looked down at the old gloves, the ‘Y’s sewn onto the backs a faded yellow that didn’t match well with Viktor’s pale blue complexion. 

“I promise,” Yuuri said, walking closer as he saw himself gain an edge. Viktor was still keeping them close, though, looking down with a frown, so Yuuri held up his pinkie, slightly desperate.

“Here, I’ll even do a pinkie swear!” Viktor was looking at Yuuri’s hand curiously, glancing from the outstretched pinkie to Yuuri’s eyes.

“Oh, um, you wrap your own pinkie around mine and I, well, make a promise that, uh, can’t be broken,” Yuuri explained, feeling his face grow hotter as he explained the children’s game.

“Really? It can never be broken?” Viktor’s eyes were shining with interest as he pulled out his right hand and placed it hear Yuuri’s already outstretched left, mimicking the closed fist and upright pinkie. 

“Yeah. I won’t break it.” Smiling, Yuuri wrapped his finger around Viktor’s, the slight chill through the glove sending shivers down his spine. He cleared his throat, taking a glance around them before deciding to go with the English version so Viktor could follow along. 

“This is the yubikiri, a pinkie promise,” Yuuri starts, “In Japanese, if I break the promise, I have to cut off my finger. In English, it goes like ‘Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye’.” Yuuri punctuates the words by bouncing their hands along, glad there’s no one else but Viktor and Makkachin to see him acting like a kid.

“Oh, so if you lose the gloves, you’ll have to cut off your finger or stick a needle in your eye?” Viktor asks, his pinkie still attached to Yuuri’s. It feels oddly intimate despite them barely touching each other. Yuuri tries not to think about the other legend of pinkies tied together, with red strings attaching lovers to one another.

“Uh, well, I suppose,” Yuuri answers, looking up to Viktor, slightly worried about what he just got himself into. Seeing the teasing smile Viktor wore, Yuuri quietly sighed in relief. He wasn’t _that_ worried, but he had truthfully only known Viktor for a day even if it felt like longer…

“Well, I suppose if you’re willing to sacrifice your pinkie or eye, I should trust you,” Viktor says, sighing as he finally pulls off the gloves. The feeling of his pinkie wrapped around Yuuri’s stays even after he lets go.

“Of course. I mean, they were originally mine from when I was a teenager. I’m just glad they fit you.” Yuuri takes the gloves, noting Viktor’s eyes watching him as he sets them aside, safe in the storage shed where he took out the tools. “We can switch them back after we’re done here.”

“Hmm, okay.” Viktor takes the tougher, and already slightly dirty, gardening gloves Yuuri hands him, placing them on. They have less stretch than Yuuri’s gloves and just barely fit. They’re the biggest pair they own. Yuuri takes a bucket from the shed and heads towards the start of the garden, his gloves already on.

After Yuuri explains which plants to pull, they set to work, quietly working to pull up weeds or unwanted plants and filling the bucket set between them up. The air still has a bit of chill to it, the sun blocked out by grey clouds, but Yuuri can tell spring is on its way from the familiar spring time buds he sees popping out from the bark and dirt. 

It’s a calming effort, and they easily make their way through the stretch of garden, tossing the bucket every so often in the compost bin. 

Makkachin stayed nearby, content to either run around by herself or lazily roll around on the grass, keeping a respectful distance from the edge of the garden. 

Yuuri got lost in the task, his thoughts innocent at first before slowly creeping back towards the never ending question that was his future, despite his attempts to pull away from it. Even wondering what exactly Viktor was didn’t stop the anxiety building up. It wasn’t until he heard humming that his mind finally cut him some slack, curiosity taking over.

It was a simple tune, like a lullaby but Yuuri had never heard it before. He found himself nodding along to the soft rhythms, and almost humming along before he caught himself. 

“What song is that? I’ve never heard it before…” Yuuri asked, his voice quiet, not wanting to disturb the peaceful air between them.

“It’s something we sing to the young ones where I live,” Viktor responds with an easy smile as he continues to pluck at weeds on the ground.

“Oh. It’s… it’s nice.” Viktor looks up from his task, making Yuuri flush from being caught looking, but Viktor simply smiles at him. Yuuri’s heart just a bit faster.

The silence lasts for a beat or two more before Viktor stops it with, “Hey Yuuri?”

“Yes?” Yuuri’s gone back to picking weeds. It’s getting late, and although he probably won’t have time to go to Minako’s studio before the dinner crowd, he wants to finish sooner rather than later.

“Why’d you stop? Competing, that is.”

Yuuri stops, his eyes on the ground as he processes the words. He had known the question was coming, after the way Viktor looked at him over lunch, but it still dried his throat out to hear it. How would he answer? The same noncommittal ‘no comment’ he’s been giving reporters? A grunt and subject change as he had with friends?

“I…” His voice caught, not wanting to lie but the truth still being too hard to bear. “Something bad happened before the free skate, and my mind… I couldn’t think straight.” Yuuri’s voice was barely a whisper, his hands blurry as he tried to blink harder. “All the anxiety caught up to me and… I guess I just proved that I wasn’t meant to be there.”

“How could that be? You still made it to that competition by going through the two other competitions, right? That’s what Mari said.”

Yuuri sighed. “Yes, but I didn’t even get gold in either of those competitions. If I really wanted to prove myself, I had to at least place at the final but… I bombed it with my lowest score of the season. Of the last two seasons, I believe.” A drop of water fell onto his glasses. It must be raining, he thought, despite looking down and away from the sky.

“So? If it’s just one low score, out of two seasons, then that means it’s not really that bad, right? You just try again and get a better score.” Yuuri is torn between wanting to laugh or scream. Viktor’s naivety had its endearing points but this was too much.

“It doesn’t work like that,” he shot back, finally looking up at Viktor, whose eyes widened at the anger in Yuuri’s voice. “Messing up like that- I screwed myself up. I messed up at the other two competitions after that, and now I can’t even get by on an invitation to the Grand Prix. The JSF wants to focus on younger skaters, stronger skaters. Skaters that aren’t as mentally weak as I am.”

“Yuuri, it-.”

“ _No_ , you want to know why I’m here? Why I’m stuck working for my parent’s even though I have a university degree I worked five years for? Why I’m here when I could be working for a company and earning enough to send money back to them to pay for the years I’ve spent skating…” Yuuri’s breath hitches, all the blinking in the world not keeping his cheeks dry. He wipes his arm across his burning eyes, the sky darkening along with his mood.

“They’ve given me so much support, my parents, Minako-sensei, my sister… Even this town helped support me, but what have I done? I failed them, I let my own mental weakness take over and lost the chance to earn the prize money so I could finally start supporting my parents.” The tears were running freely now, Yuuri only mildly aware the dirt from his hands had gotten on his face. It was embarrassing, to cry in front of someone who was practically a stranger, but at the same time it was better than crying in front of any one who had actually known him, had grown up with him and supported him for nothing.

“Yuuri…” Viktor’s voice was soft, careful. Yuuri hated it. 

“See? Even now I’m crying instead of actually doing something. I’m tired of it, I should just go and start applying for a city job so I can start paying them back and making sure the onsen stays in business-.”

“Why can’t you compete next season? Yuuko said you still have time,” Viktor interrupts, an odd expression over his face as he looks over Yuuri. Mouth open, Yuuri takes a moment to recover. A drop of freezing rain hits his head, but he ignores it.

“I-I can’t, I don’t have any programs, or coach, and I don’t have enough money to-.”

“What about me?” A clap of loud thunder over head makes Yuuri jump, but Viktor doesn’t pay it any heed, his electric blue eyes staying straight on Yuuri.

“Wha- but you aren’t a coach!” The dark clouds suddenly dump rain on them, freezing water that has Yuuri shivering in seconds. He makes to get out of the rain but stops with Viktor’s hand on his arm.

“I’ll learn! I can become a coach, for you!” Viktor yells over the rain, his own hair flat with water against his skin as the rain continues to pour down. 

“That’s… That’s ridiculous!” Yuuri yells back, the anger from earlier melting away in his disbelief. They’re both completely soaked now, even though Viktor barely seems to notice. Yuuri has to look over his glasses at Viktor, his vision worse through the wet lens.

“But I want to! You can’t stop skating! I won’t let you!” Viktor pouts out his bottom lip stubbornly, intent on his words.

Yuuri huffs, any trace of his earlier tears gone by the rain cascading down his face. 

“You can’t _force_ me to skate!”

“Can you honestly say that you don’t want to?!” Viktor shoots back.

Mouth open, Yuuri wants to respond but he can’t. His arm is numb where Viktor still holds him, but he doesn’t push him away.

“Please, just say you’ll try! I want to see you compete again!” Viktor is close now, too close, but not close enough. Yuuri can’t stop shivering.

“Please, Yuuri… I don’t want to leave you…”

Yuuri looks up in confusion, not sure if he heard Viktor right, but before he can ask, the sky lights up with another loud roar of thunder. It’s so bright, Yuuri’s vision swims with black dots that force him to blink them away before he can see again. 

By the time he does, the rain has lightened and Viktor is looking over at the grass with a tight smile.

Yuuri follows his line of sight, finding a blonde teenager scowling at them, a horrendous leopard print umbrella keeping him dry.

“Who-.”

“Viktor!” The teen screams, his voice shaking the ground like thunder. Yuuri unconsciously presses himself closer to Viktor, wondering what was wrong with the young teen.

Viktor gives Yuuri a small smile, tightening his grip around Yuuri for a moment before letting go and stepping forward, in front of Yuuri, directing one of his charming smiles at the teen.

“ _Wow_! You found me!”

 


	6. A smaller storm than expected...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ooohhh I think this won't be a 'G' story forever hahaha oh wait this is a summery nothing happens happens but like 'something' happens, you know what I mean?  
> Also, sorry it's short. I have horrible time management skills. Part of the reason I'm making myself upload to this every Tuesday! Can't create if you don't do anything, right?
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :D

Yuuri was soaking wet, cold, and covered in bits of mud and dirt from gardening. It was still raining, albeit lightly, and cold, making it more and more difficult to simply stand there as he waited for the teen to stop yelling at Viktor in a language he couldn’t understand. Russian, probably.

The teen had barely taken a moment to breathe since Viktor acknowledged his presence, although Yuuri still had no idea how long he had been there. Did he overhear them yelling? Of course, _that_ wouldn’t matter if he didn’t speak English-.

“And you, you thief!” The teen had turned his attention to Yuuri. Well. Hopefully he hadn’t been able to hear them argue over the thunder, then.

“Yes?” Yuuri musters, with more patience than he actually felt, arms wound tight around himself as he shivered.

“Yuri, he has nothing to do with this,” Viktor cuts in.

“What?” Yuuri looks over at Viktor who only had eyes on the teen, as if he was speaking to him, not Yuuri. The confusion makes his patience grow even thinner. 

Viktor glances down at Yuuri, blinking in his own confusion before laughing. Neither Yuuri or the teen join him.

“Oh, this is interesting. You both have the same name…” Viktor gets a good look at Yuuri and his laughter is quickly replaced with a frown. “Yura, why don’t we discuss this later? They make really tasty food here.”

The teen, Yuri, sputters, looking both offended and childishly embarrassed. 

Viktor ignores it, picking up the bucket and dumping it one last time before placing their gardening tools back in the shed while switching out his gloves. Yuuri lets him, beyond ready to go inside and dry off. The teen follows them, silently fuming as they make their way back inside.

Toshiyo laughs at them when he sees how soaked they both are, pausing when he notices the extra foreigner behind them.

“Who’s this, Vicchan?” Toshiyo asks Viktor, not Yuuri. Yuuri is glad, as he would like to know as well.

“It’s uh, my brother, Yura. Say ‘yoroshiku-onegashimasu’, Yura!” The teen doesn’t dignify Viktor with a response, instead greeting Toshiyo with a stiff nod and looking around the place with apprehension, his leopard print umbrella close to his side.

“Meeting the family already!” Toshiyo exclaims in Japanese, winking at Yuuri, who feels his body finally heat up through the water soaked clothes, his embarrassment a personal furnace. “We’re pleased to have you here, Yura. Do you want to soak in the hot springs while they change?”

“Hot springs?” Yuri looks curiously at Toshiyo, who responds with a grin and pulls him towards the baths, toting the amazing quality of their hot springs with all the English he learned for specifically this reason. Both Yuuri and Viktor let them go.

“Is he really your brother?” Yuuri asks as they take off their shoes. Yuuri grabs a few towels so they don’t drip on the floor, and quickly makes sure Makkachin’s feet won’t cover the floor in any mud. 

“More or less. We grew up together and came from the same place. He’s about ten years younger than me, though,” Viktor says as they walk their the halls, both awkward in their soaked clothes. Normally Yuuri would just throw his clothes off by the time they got out of the customer area, perhaps just keep on his boxers for decency’s sake, but he wanted to limit the amount of time Viktor was exposed as much as possible. For… reasons.

He does quickly grab a few of the extra work outfits on their way back to his room, handing off the larger set to Viktor as soon as they reach the safety of his room.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I’m going to head to the hot springs myself after changing,” Yuuri says, quickly stripping out of his wet clothes, gritting at the texture as it drags across his clothes and sighing in relief the moment it’s all off. The soft, dry towel is heaven sent on his poor, chilled skin.

The complete silence behind him has Yuuri looking back, wondering why Viktor didn’t reply. The answer is because Viktor was simply standing there, Makkachin by his side, and watching Yuuri with an obvious blue tint to his face.

“Uh, Viktor?” Any chill from before is gone, the room quickly heating up as Yuuri watches Viktor’s eyes roam over his body, the routine nakedness he grew up with in the onsen suddenly not feeling so familiar. The air was charged with tension that dried Yuuri’s throat, his heart beating rapidly as he saw Viktor’s bright blue eyes darken, pupils wide enough to nearly cover the color, his mouth open and tongue darting out to lick his lips, the movement catching Yuuri’s eyes and holding it, unable to look away with only a stray towel barely making him decent.

His tongue is pink and wet, following the curve of his lips and leaving a glistening trail in it’s wake. As soon as it completes a round, Yuuri’s eyes are drawn back up, to the dark storm swirling in Viktor’s eyes, pulling him in, his own feet working on their own to bring him closer and-.

Viktor blinks, inhaling sharply as Makkachin jumps against his side, knocking him slightly off balance. Yuuri laughs, a short, nervous one as the poodle easily ends whatever tension that had built up in the room. It lets him breath easier, but leaves a keen feeling of disappointment besides it. Yuuri isn’t quite sure what to think about that.

“What is the hot springs?” Viktor asks, finally stripping out of his own clothes. Yuuri politely turns away, focusing on getting them some dry underwear. He throw Viktor’s pair onto the bed, near the man, but doesn’t look back.

“It’s what my family has built their business on. There’s pools of hot water that you can soak in. It’s good for your skin.”

“Oh… hot water? I think… I think I’ll skip it and just help Mama and Papa with dinner,” Viktor replies, the regret clear in his voice.

“You sure?” Yuuri finishes dressing and turns around, glad to see Viktor is nearly done as well, although his hair is a mess of wet matted silver strands over his shoulders.

“Yeah… I don’t deal well with heat,” Viktor says, a small smile appearing as he finishes tying the knot to hold his top close, before looking down at his hair and frowning, the wet bunches of it knotted together in what will be difficult to take out.

Viktor tries to run his hands down his hair, pulling hard when he gets to the knots and flinching in pain as it pulls his scalp. Yuuri blinks, wondering how someone with hair that long could be so inept at dealing with it. Perhaps he had someone else help him take care of it before? He wouldn’t be surprised; it was beautiful hair, after all.

“Here, let me help,” Yuuri offers. Viktor looks up from his mess of a hair, eyes wide but lets himself be directed to sitting on the floor with Yuuri behind him. Makkachin takes her own spot in front of Viktor, keeping his free hands from being idle.

“My sister used to have long hair,” Yuuri starts, taking one of the large tangles of Viktor’s hair and slowly working through it, careful not to pull too hard, “It took a lot of effort to maintain. Sometimes I would help her if it got bad. At least, until she decided she was happier with short hair.”

“Ah… Thanks.” Yuuri thinks that he hears Viktor’s voice waver, but his face is out of view and he quickly continues, “I usually don’t have any problems with my hair… This is the first time it’s been so messy.”

“Really?” Yuuri laughs, disbelieving and yet somehow completely understanding. The silver hair was unnaturally beautiful, as if magic was laced into every strand. Despite being wet, it still felt soft and silky in his hands, working with him as he gets out the tangles. There was just the slightest hint of Viktor’s natural chill clinging to them.

“Maybe it’s the heat,” Yuuri suggests, feeling a spike of satisfaction as his hands smoothly went through the section he had been working on before going to the next large tangle of hair. “We can braid it, maybe that will help?”

“Mmn, yeah, thanks,” Viktor replies, holding onto Makkachin and letting his face disappear into her fur as Yuuri finished up. It only takes a few more minutes before he can easily slide his hands through the strands, getting up to grab a rubber band from his desk before sectioning the hair into thirds and creating a simple braid. It wasn’t the prettiest, but it held together well enough and would keep out of Viktor’s way as it dried. 

“There you go.” Yuuri tapped the top of Viktor’s head when he finished, surprised to find Viktor looking up at him sleepily from Makkachin’s fur. “Did you fall asleep?”

“Mmn? No, of course not,” Viktor says, quickly blinking himself awake as he shook away the tiredness in his eyes. He skipped up to his feet. “I’ll go help Mama now, let me know if Yura misbehaves in the bath.”

“Er, okay-.” Yuuri barely gets it all out before Viktor leaves the room, Makkachin scrabbling to catch up with him. “Huh.” 

 

It isn’t hard to find Yuri, his blonde hair making him stick out like a sore thumb in the outside pool. Yuuri quickly washes himself off and joins him in the hot water, nodding to him when the teen glances his way.

The heat of the water is heaven to his body, a familiar embrace he’s been savoring more so ever since coming back from the states. Detroit didn’t have anything that came close to the hot springs, and he had sorely missed them.

Still, even the bliss radiating through his body couldn’t let him ignore the awkward tension building between him and Yuri with every moment that passed in silence.

He could let it be, as it seemed like that was Yuri’s plan, but no, that would be _too_ easy.

“So… Yuri, was it?” Yuuri is glad for the heat of the water, as it excuses the redness in his face.

“What? You didn’t hear the fuss that old man made about our names earlier?” Yuri bites back. 

Ah, teens. Yuuri wonders if he was this difficult when he was younger. He doesn’t think so.

“Viktor says you two are brothers,” Yuuri carrys on, looking up at the dark sky above them. The rain had stopped but the grey clouds were still there, heavy and waiting.

Yuri huffs, and despite not looking at the teen, Yuuri can practically hear his eyes rolling. “Right, _brothers_. I hate the idea of being related to him, but it’s close enough.”

Viktor seems like a sore topic, so Yuuri decides to switch tactics. 

“Your English is pretty good, how long have you been studying it?”

There’s a hesitation in the air, the sudden change probably throwing the younger man off. “…Since I was 5, I guess.”

“Oh really? That’s good, I didn’t start until I was 10, but living in the states helped,” Yuuri says, hoping his olive branch reaches its target.

Yuri snorts. “Americans are no good. They mess up English, making it into something stupid, with words they made up to make it even harder. And they have too many accents…”

Laughing, Yuuri looks over at the teen, finding him looking up at the dark sky. “Have you been there? I’ve really only been around Michigan and a few other places, although more for work than vacation.”

“Yeah… Although I guess it’s for work, too,” Yuri says, his head falling back down towards the water, where he plays just beneath the surface with his fingers.

“Oh? What job do you have?” Yuuri asks, wondering what kind of job someone so young would have to travel around the world for.

Yuri catches his eyes, a dark smile that’s all teeth flashing dangerously above the water while a rumble of thunder roared in the not too distant clouds. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Yuuri suddenly decided he didn’t need to know.

The rest of the bath was pleasant enough, an almost relaxed silence broken only a few more times with whatever simple and non-invasive questions Yuuri could think of. When Yuuri asked about Yuri’s favorite animal, Yuri almost fainted from heat exhaustion from getting too caught up talking about tigers.

Handing Yuri a glass of cold milk, Yuuri took his own and sipped it as he dried his hair. They had spent more time than he realized in the baths, and it was already time for the dinner rush. 

After making sure Yuri was feeling better, Yuuri took the teen to the family’s private rec room, handing him one of his DS game consoles while he went off to help his family out. The exhaustion from either traveling or being angry- perhaps both- had seemed to have caught up with Yuri, who had even thanked Yuuri before he left, although it was so quiet Yuuri nearly missed it. 

Yuuri made a note to ask Viktor what he had done to piss his brother off so much later. And perhaps talk about their argument earlier. Viktor can’t just say things like that, it made Yuuri hope.

 

For now, there was katsudon to be served.

**Author's Note:**

> Do you want more? I have a bit more written but I really should focus on writing other stuff but also I want to write this but also also like I really need to write the other stuff but like this is nice to write, good practice, right? hahahaha oh gosh what am I doing?
> 
> Thanks for reading~ There will probably be more. Especially if you comment/kudo this.... 
> 
> You can yell at me on Tumblr here: https://unicornsovermyrainbow.tumblr.com  
> :D


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